Sit and Listen
by DevilishAngel21
Summary: Tartaros had left deep scars on everyone, some greater than the others. The fact that the guild was disbanded didn't help either now her friends left her too. She just stood there, watched her guildmates walk away. Her eyes landed on him and all she did was take a step back. He looked concerned and she felt nothing.
1. Chapter 1

_**I would like to dedicate this work to Desna for her wonderful creation of the Pradesh family, who i will be using in my story. Check out her work if you enjoy Bickslow's family as much as I do.**_

* * *

Life has a funny way of messing with you. Only thing is, its humour is so dark, you often wonder if it is actually playing a joke on you or are you really in hell.

Lucy couldn't decide what was happening in her life. She knew it herself that she was a bundle of emotions right now, but she felt so empty, so numb that she couldn't even move from where she stood.

Everyone has left her.

Once again, she was all alone.

Levy had just nodded and walked away with Jet and Droy. Mira had wrapped her arms around Lissana and Elfman followed them. Gajeel had at least ruffled her hair and gave her a com, to contact him if she was ever in need. She had avoided the Thunder God Tribe and walked away from where once the guild stood. Keeping the gates of her spirits closed, Lucy packed a bag and for a second didn't know what to do, where to go?

Her throat clogged and her body was shaking, she couldn't even stop the sobs or the tears as she dropped on the floor, hardly able to breathe between her crying. She just didn't understand how they could abandon her? Not a goodbye, not a word. Was she not even worth that much? Was she only worth a note from her best friend? Is that all her sacrifice was worth? To be left alone once again?

She had to break her key to protect them. She broke Aquarius's key to saving them... her mother's best friend. Her first Spirit. For what? To be left alone? To have her only family stripped away from her?

It would have been so much better if she had died, at least Aquarius still would be here. Aquarius...

Her chest exploded with pain and Lucy knew then, the meaning of a bleeding heart.

Curled up on the floor, gasping for air between her sobs, She hugged the broken key close to her chest, not caring if the sharp edges pierced her skin. Her whole body was hurting anyway, what would an additional wound do? She felt so cold yet felt like her whole body was burning. She didn't want to join another guild or go away but what choice did she have.

That made her chuckle, a bitter sound which kind of shocked her. But in reality, when did she ever have a choice. Did she have a choice to do _anything_ growing up? Did she have a choice when she was sold to the highest bidder? Did she have a choice but to surrender when Phantom Lord attacked her guild because of her? When she had to Sacrifice her Spirit to save the people who meant the world to her? To be abandoned by the same people? When, her friends decided that the missions were not fit for her? When would they accompany her on small missions because she always ends up getting kidnapped?

She breath suddenly caught up in her throat and a pained whimper left her mouth. Did everyone abandon her because she was weak? Because they thought she couldn't handle herself without them? That she always needed protection?

Bringing her hands to her face, she slowly wiped her eyes and felt all the anger and pain disappear. Her mind turned numb once again. A voice at the back oh her head pointed out that everything was her fault. She was never _Lucky_ Lucy Heartfilia. She was never lucky.

Where ever she went, she had just brought bad luck with her. Phantom Lord, Oracion Seis, Eclipse was all her fault. She was weak, pathetic and problematic for her guild who couldn't hold her own fight. Maybe Father was right. Her only role in life was to manage the estate and expand his business. She should have listened to him, if not, then she should have been stronger.

She couldn't even win a fight during the Grand Magic Games. She had to sacrifice a spirit to win one! How useless and pathetic could she be? Natsu was right. She was fat, she was slow and she was damn Weak.

It's a good thing that the guild was dissolved. Who would need a weakli-

Her head shot forwards when she felt magic build up next to her and was surprised when Loke managed to open his gate. Lucy wanted to laugh at how she couldn't even keep her spirits from opening her gate, but the look of pure rage on her spirits face was enough to make her just sit there. Maybe he came to tell her that he doesn't want to work with her anymore for what she did to Aquarius. She wouldn't be surprised.

"Stop that, Lucy! Stop blaming your self! It was not your fault! Do you understand me?!" the Zodiac leader almost cried himself seeing the emotionless eyes of his master. He crouched down in front of her and held her face in his hand gently, almost cradling her, making her look at him.

"It was not your fault, alright? You had to do it to save you Namaka. Aquarius told you to do it and I promise you, Lucy, she is not mad at you. Nobody is. Please don't blame yourself." He whispered softly and Loke for the first time didn't know what to do when she finally spoke.

"They left me, Loke. I gave her up for them and they just... left." Her eyes were filled with such pain, Loke just hugged her close to his chest, trying not to let his own tears fall. He felt it the moment she had entered her apartment. Her heartbreak. He saw the look of panic on everyone's face when they couldn't open their gate. The pain in their chest when she was sobbing. He saw Aquarius cry looking at the little blonde gasping for air.

Loke had seen the sadness is the Spirit King's eyes when he saw the light of her star vanish in the sky. He agreed to open Loke's gate for him because he was concerned about the little human. But neither less to say, The spirit King has never seen other spirits, who were not in contract with Lucy to be so mad watching the little blonde cry. He felt the pure rage which ran through every one of her spirits seeing their master so hurt.

Loke himself was controlling his anger and just whispered soothing words in her ear.

He was going to make sure that Lucy never doubted herself again.

* * *

Laxus was trying to find her but he just couldn't place where her scent was leading him to. He was wrapped up with making sure everyone was safe and saying his goodbyes to his guild members when he felt the sadness through the bond. It was only for a brief second before he lost the link itself.

A panic look took over his features and he turned away from his group and ran towards her apartment in a hurry, his heart hammering against his ribs. He heard Bickslow call after him and was aware that his team were following him but his sole focus was on her scent trail. Not even wasting a second he sprinted up the stairs and entered her apartment, only to find it empty. Her luggage was missing but her scent was fresh, so was the smell of tears.

His heart was stuck in his throat as he picked up the note Natsu left for her and cursed, an unsettling feeling rasing in his chest.

Passing it to Bickslow he felt hot rage in his veins and growled, looked around to see if she left any note of her own and was even more frustrated when he found nothing. Bickslow clenched his fists, his lips pressed in a thin line while Freed had the little paper crushed in his hands.

They understood how important she was to Laxus and to them as well. After all, she was his Kin and he looked at her as his little sister.

"We need to look for her." Laxus narrowed his eyes, trying to catch any unfamiliar scent when Bickslow spoke. "Let me call dad and tell him we might be a little late." He was about to call him when the light on his com started glowing and he came face to face with Cobra.

The poison dragon slayer had a concerned look in his eyes even if his face was set in a scowl. "Where is Doll Face? I just lost my link with her." He growled and Laxus took the lacrima from his hands, scowling himself. He had just opened his mouth to speak but looked up startled when one of Lucy's spirits appeared next to them. It was the goat one Lucy really adored. Capricorn

"I assure you, dragon slayer, Miss Lucy is perfectly safe with us and is currently sleeping. However, I am here to inform you that we will not be returning her anytime soon, given the current circumstances, Miss Lucy needs her solitude and we rather watch over her closely." The normally poised spirit looked rather hostile while talking to them.

Cobra growled through the com and glared at him. "What do you mean 'Current circumstances'?" His purple eyes held protectiveness and a slight bit of rage in them. All four men saw the spirit become silent for a second before sighing and slowing explaining what had happened.

"Miss Lucy's body has entered a lockdown. Her grief and anger have made her quite... numb. You see, Miss Lucy had sacrificed her very close friend to save you and your _Namaka_ from the algae and Jackle. Once everyone was incapable of fighting, only she was left out and did everything in her power to stop Jackel. She had already summoned Leo and Virgo but still couldn't hold him off so she summoned her third Spirit." Laxus felt his heart sink and the whole thing was not even over yet. He saw the pain and anger on Capricon's face and he could only pray to Mavis Lucy was okay.

"She sacrificed Aquarius to summon the Spirit King, Mr Laxus. To save her family, she gave up a friend. And what did she get in return? Her best friends, her teammates leaving her without saying a word and another left with a mere note! And she is right to question her decision, whether her decision to sacrifice her friend was worth it if she was to be abandoned like this. But do you know what was not right?" The zodiac spirit closed his eyes, the thought alone pained him.

"What is not right is her thinking that things would be better if she was _dead_. If she was stronger if she was more useful. So, you have your answer, and that too because at least you had the heart to look for her." Laxus was frozen in his place but he heard Bickslow curse next to him while Freed and Cobra were just looked horrified.

"Miss Lucy will be back soon, and I assure you, if anything happened, you will be the first ones to know." Capricorn just bowed before disappearing from her room.

Laxus had to take a very deep breath, in attempts to calm himself but his dragon was raging inside him.

Their Kin was a special relation and dragons were very protective of the people who they chose. Lucy was not only like his sister but his dragon adored her and the fact that she was the light of Fairytail just made her even more special.

She was what kept him sane since he hasn't found his mate yet. She was the most supportive friend he and his team could ask for. One who broke the bubble for them, who helped them get closer with the rest of their guild.

Hell, Laxus would openly admit that he loved that Bubbly Stupid Terrifying blonde. He felt tears prick in his eyes. She didn't deserve it at all. She has already been going through so much, why did the universe have to fuck with her like that.

Looking at Bickslow and Freed who were looking at him with concerned gaze he took a deep breath and grabbed the Lacrima from Bix and looked at Cobra who supported the same expression as him. They stared at each other for a bit, silent understanding passing between them and then Laxus spoke.

"We are leaving for Bosco. We...don't know if we will be back or not but whoever gets to her first will contact the other, understood?" He was trying not to show how much this was affecting him and Cobra nodded but before ending the call, he did add a few words for the Slayer he had accepted as a part of his weird group.

"Contact if you need us."

* * *

 _"But Sire, that is against the laws!" A rather scandalised voice rose through the court and a group of people openly glared at the owner of the said voice._

 _"A human staying in our realm is enough, why must she be allowed to do something no human is allowed to do in this realm!?" Roque, the Spirit King's adviser basically growled and Loke physically had to stop himself from throwing hands with the said man but he knew he had a good point. The Spirit king was known for his stern opinions on the law of this world._

 ** _"Old Friend. While I agree with you that the law is important, what is important is allowing our star to move forward."_** _His voice implied no argument and the entire room went pin-drop silent as he spoke. Loke's eyes were drawn to the six people at the back of the room, eyes connecting with amber eyes and he saw her smile confirming his doubts._

 ** _"I have said this before and this is the final time I shall repeat myself. Lucy Heartfilia is a part of the Celestial realm just as much as we are. Her stars are destined to be in the sky like ours. We must help her when she needs the support of her dear spirits."_** _It was almost as if his words were binding that every Spirit in the room nodded along with what he had to say._

 ** _"It will take time to restore the Broken key but in the meanwhile, she shall reach the heights she is meant to reach."_** _Knowing eyes looked up at the sky and every eye followed to see the constellation which is usually bright and shining so dim, it was hardly visible._


	2. Chapter 2

_**I want to thank Desna to allow me to use her characters.**_

* * *

She was lying on something smooth, slowly getting aware of her surroundings as she woke up. Rubbing her eyes, Lucy sat up slowly looking around the room a sense of panic settled in when she realised she didn't recognise where she was. She was in one of the grandest rooms Lucy has ever seen and tried to think about how she got here. She remembers crying and Loke coming out on his own to talk to her but that was it.

Getting off the Bed, Lucy looked around for her keys, frowning when she could find them and was about to get a panic attack when the door to her room opened and a feeling of relief settles in her chest when Loke walked in.

The spirit didn't say anything but rushed towards her and pulled her in for a tight hug. For a second, Lucy was surprised by his sudden action but relaxed and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back. Her emotions clogged her throat once again but she refused to cry this time. Pushed back gently, she looked at him when he cupped her face and took a good look at her, his eyes scanning her face, anger and hurt still swimming in his eyes.

"I am sorry for worrying you guys." She whispered and stepped out of his hold and tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace. "I...I guess everything just came crashing down, you know." Her voice turned almost inaudible and she looked down at her feet. "It was just...overwhelming and I couldn't think." She tried to gulp the lump in her throat but she couldn't really get a hold of her emotions.

"Lucy..." Loke grabbed her hand and made her sit on the bed before kneeling in front of her, her beautiful bright eyes were so dull, it broke him. "You had every right to be sad Lucy. To be angry, to feel betrayed. Your teammates should not have-" He stopped when she shook her head vigorously.

"No Loke! Please don't say that." Her eyes filled with tears and she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand before they spilt out. "I overreacted Loke. I shouldn't have...I... I guess when I realised that the guild was disbanded and with... with what happened I was hoping that my team would be there to help each other cope but... but they just left and that is what hurt loke. I am not mad about them leaving. It's just... a goodbye would have been perfectly fine with me." Lucy looked at him in the eye and she knew they were going to be mad at them because she was hurt but it had really been at the spur of the moments that the insecure part of her brain dominated all her thoughts.

"Natsu lost his dad, Loke and while I can't say anything about Erza and Grey or what happened with them, I know I can't judge but it still hurts." She couldn't stop the tears and that frustrated her. She looked back at him when he took her hands in his with a small but warm smile on his face. He stood up and ruffled her hair lovingly before pulling her up before kissing her forehead.

Gods she was too kind for her own good.

"Come on. We have a few things to discuss and someone wants to meet you."

* * *

Meanwhile, Laxus and his team sat together in a privet plane on the way to Bosco and he sighed.

He still couldn't wrap his head around everything that has happened and now he was worried about Blondie even though her spirit told them they would take care of her. He couldn't help it actually. Everyone in his team loved the peppy blonde for their own reason.

Bickslow and Lucy had bonded over familiar magic and because Bix's dolls loved her. She was fascinated by his magic and they would talk about to a lot. She loved how fun he was, and perverted too but so mischievous at the same time. He treated her so well, had his door always open for her and the image that the guild had about him, Lucy felt it was because Bickslow didn't show his true self to them.

They don't get to see the man in his t-shirts and shorts sitting with a controller in one hand and beer in another on a Saturday night. They didn't get to see how caring he was, how sweet he was and when Lucy had told Bickslow about how she felt, the man had almost cried.

Lucy had befriended Evergreen right after he was exiled, never leaving the girl alone or excluding her from girls night. She made Ever open up and got to know the sweet insecure girl rather than 'that bitch' as others dubbed her as.

Freed loved to talk to her about books, manuscripts, spells and whatnot. She had shown him her book collection and Laxus had to drag the man away from her house. Then there were times when Lucy sneaked on missions with them to avoid her teammates or stay at Laxus's home sometimes.

In fact, Freed thought of her as the most intelligent mage in Fairy Tail. It amazed him just how vast her knowledge was, how quickly she could evaluate a situation, how easily she managed guild paperwork and overall how kind-hearted she was.

Bickslow had once told them that apart from Kaleb, Lucy had the most bright and pure soul he has ever encountered. Which made him equally mad at how her team treated her.

She may deny and refuse to accept the fact but everyone at the guild knew how badly the team treated her, even if it was not intentional. Breaking into her apartment, eating her food, destroying her furniture, destroying towns and villages on missions leaving her with little to no money. Going through her stuff and he remembered how she had knocked on Laxus's door, eyes red and tears streaming down her face and hugging a burned box close to her chest. It took everything in Laxus to not hunt down Natsu and really kill him but if Freed had to guess, He had stopped because he didn't want to leave his Kin when she was sad.

It pissed them and a few other people in the guild how they would always accompany her on missions even if was the easiest ones and ruin it for her when they had the liberty to walk out on a solo mission of their own and always have the money to take care of themselves, while Lucy had to work at the Guild with the paperwork and take missions to pay her rent.

Cana and Levy often tried to convince her to leave the team but the Blonde had fiercely expressed her loyalty towards the people in the team. Laxus called bullshit. He knew that Natsu made Lucy promise him into being his partner and she was bound by magic.

Bickslow thought about how he saw her put on a shirt on a pool day, refusing to take it off and asked Ever who was fuming and started ranting about how often Natsu and Happy joke that Lucy was fat or heavy and needed to lose weight that she felt insecure around the other girls. It was the first time Bickslow had wanted to really hurt Natsu and his stupid cat.

He may have spent the majority of his adulthood in Fiore but in Bosco, people would do anything to bed Lucy. She was a rare beauty, slight sun-kissed skin and blonde hair that she looked like a gold goddess walking on earth, and added the fact she was a rare mage with a pure soul and clever mind that could shun any politician, noble or high society member with her innocent smile, leaving them confused whether to be angry or swoon at her smile made her just stand out.

Then there was her weird ability to friend anyone. She met Cobra once he was free from prison and spent two days with him, on her way to Clover town and the slayer had declared her his Kin.

Her friendship with the Spirit King was brag-worthy and yet Lucy would just smile and call him Stash-face! and he lets her! Then came her spirits who he didn't even need to talk about. She had to be something if she could turn another key holder's spirit to refuse their command and if you asked him, Bickslow knew that that woman could be a very strong mage if she got the right training.

Laxus looked at his best friends, both lost in thoughts when he suddenly had an idea. He knew that Bickslow's family was filled with strong mages and though that was not what bothered him, his dragon urged to protect Lucy somehow. He knew that Kaleb could head anyone's thoughts and since the wound is so new, he knew that Lucy was going to be a very common thought. It somehow didn't settle well with him that Kaleb would know her pain even if he never met him. Plus he might as well make some light out of the situation.

If anything, Laxus has always let Lucy make her own first impression on people. Plus it would be fun to mess with Kaleb. He looked at Freed, considering his idea before he cleared his throat and slowly explained his thought to both of them. He was expecting Bickslow to frown or not agree with him but the seith mage nodded his head, understanding.

"It's a good idea bossman. Freed can make a barrier which would not stop Kaleb from listening to what we think but he won't be able to dig and try to find out more about Lucy through our memories. We can always try not to think about her or what happened but if he did take interest then he should not be able to go past the magic wall... for a few seconds" He rolled his tongue out, like the idea of frustrating Kaleb and protecting Lucy even though it felt childish

"That won't be a Problem Laxus. Give me a minute and I will Perform the spell right away." He stood up with slight determination and a bit of smirk on his lips and quickly went to retrieve his bag with his spellbook. A few minutes later, Almost fifteen minutes before they were about to land, Freed performed the spell and he had to admit, he was looking forward to seeing the reaction of the Mindbender.

* * *

Arman Pradesh stood next to his oldest son, Farron and couldn't stop smiling once he saw the plane land. His son was finally home after such a long time and it had ached him that he missed seeing his son grow up. He knew that if he or his children had gone to visit him in Fiore then people who were still after seith mages would have targeted his son and he would never put his life in danger.

He could not be happier when he got his call after Tartaros that he is fine and gave him a full account of what happened, but his heart might rest a bit better if his dear Chris took a good look at them to make sure they were all fully healed. When the plane finally stopped and the plug door opened, he drew in a sharp breath and felt his eyes fill with tears. Bickslow got out first and Arman didn't wait for him to take two steps once he was out and pulled him for a hug, arms wrapped around him tightly and smiling when Bickslow laughed happily.

Taking a step back Arman took that helmet off his face and kissed his forehead and smiled at his son, his heartwarming in his chest seeing that beautiful smile again. "I missed you Bixy." He caresses his face with fatherly affection and Bixslow nodded, "I missed you too dad." Arman grinned and patted his cheek. Once he had gone to Fiore, all his children had missed his mischievous behaviour and kind heart so much.

"I am so glad to see you are okay." he finally said and stepped back, letting Farron step forward and hug him with all his might that the older sibling picked Bickslow up with a laugh. "I missed you-you ass." He exclaimed and kissed his cheeks and Bickslow returned the gesture, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. "Yeah." He choked and nodded his head against Farron's shoulder.

"Good to have you home Bix." Bickslow smiled back at him, feeling extra emotional being back home. Meanwhile, Arman walked towards the other two and smiled at Freed who had to drag his eyes away from Farron. _So Farron is not the only one._ He thought

"It is so good to see two you again." Arman hugged Freed and patted his cheek before looking at the dragon slayer and took Laxus's hand in his, a sad smile on his face.

"My Son. Thank you for saving my boy. You have always been a part of our family and if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I am forever in your debt." Arman bowed his head but Laxus put his hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a half-amused smile.

"Bix is like a brother to me, Arman. I would have saved that fucker even if I had to give up my own life. You are not in debt or anything. After all, we are family, aren't we?" Laxus sent him a cheesy smile, suddenly thinking, Lucy would have laughed at him right now. Looking down at his feet he tried to brush off his concerned dragon but it was rather difficult seeing how recent things were.

The older man saw the Blonde dragon slayer look down, thinking, yet his smile was so bittersweet, it did concern him. There was this look in their eyes that Arman recognised well. Tiredness, exhaustion but most off all Concern but for who he was not sure. _Yet._

"Come. Let's all go home." His warm smile warmed the heart of the two new family members and even they could help but be excited to start a new life.

* * *

When Loke said someone wanted to meet her, she was expecting maybe the Spirit King or someone like that but when he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, to walk through the corridors of what seemed like a palace and not answering her questions Lucy frowned and tried to not let her curiosity take the best of her.

He stopped in front of a huge white door and Lucy was just about to say something when Loke gently pushed inside the room.

She glared at him and huffed an irritated breath before turning around to see who wanted to meet her and Lucy turned around and stood there motionless, her brain in shock seeing who was in front of her before she brought both her hands to her face to muffle the sound of her sobs.

Warm hands wrap around her, one rubbing her back and the other one trying to straighten her but even if Lucy bent, over bawling her eyes out she could feel the tremor in the person's hands. Gasping for air she is pulled into a tight hold, not wasting any more time the blonde wrapping her hands around the person.

"I-I am sorry." she barely managed to say in between her hiccups before the person let go of her she whimpered at the loss of contact but the very next second, Lucy was hit with a huge wave of water, making her cough and shiver and look up surprised.

"Damn it you brat! Stop crying!" Aquarius narrowed her eyes at her, but the look of pain on her face and tears in her eyes, she floated closer to Lucy and grabbed her face gently, caressing with the care she wishes she had shown earlier. Lucy put her hand on top of her's as if still not believing who she was seeing.

"Stop crying, alright? Stop blaming your self, please. You are a damn Heartfilia, you don't give up just like that. Do you understand me?" The spirit kept hugging her and whispering soothing words to her and Lucy felt her lips wobble a little.

"I asked you to sacrifice my key because I would rather be here, waiting for someone to make another key and you to find it, rather than be out there when you were dead. I know I didn't show it but i care a lot about you, Lucy." It was the first time Lucy heard Aquarius's voice break and the spirit cupped her cheek and bend down to look at her in the eye.

"I want you to move forward, Lucy. Don't let me hold you back, please." A lone tear escaped her eye and Lucy threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"I-I promise I will forever value your sacrifice Aquarius. I will never let anyone think that celestial mages are weak." She looked at her one last time, and finally, in weeks, Lucy smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Books, Scrips, journals, or manuscripts didn' have the amount of knowledge that the Celestial Realm Library had. Recorded history, every event that happened, every magic that was born, every spell that was ever spoken and Lucy was lost. She Spent hours of her day here in the library, reading as much as she could when she was not training with her spirits. Her day was already a tight schedule, curtsy to Capricorn but she always had time to read, even if it meant sneaking out and sitting down in a quiet corner.

It usually ended with one of her spirits coming and dragging her away from her books, much to the amusement of every other spirit.

Right now, she was huddled up in a blanket and reading a book on the history of Celestial magic. Biting her lips, as she read more about her ancestors, Lucy almost jumped out of her skin when someone cleared their throat next to her. Peaking up innocently from behind her book, she saw Capricorn look at her unimpressed and with arms folded.

"Five minutes!" She quickly yelled hugging the book close to her but the Goat Spirit shook his head and put his hand out, making her pout. Giving him the book, Lucy stood up and walked in front of him, hugging the blanket close to her, her shoulders slouched and glared at Loke who was laughing at her, standing in the corridor.

Hmpf'ing she tipped her chin up and walked away from him, ignoring as he called after her.

It has been three months since Lucy was here in the Spirit realm and she had been worried that when she would go back, it would be passed two years, but Stash-face had assured her it would only be a week as Lucy will be training in a realm that was between Earthland and Celestial Realm, where time went by fast. For her, one month was three days on Earthland, that way she can train for a year and when she went back, it would be only over a month.

So far, for the last three months, she had been working so hard on her fighting skills, learning everything Loke and Capricorn taught her. Hand to hand combat, helping her increase her durability during a fight, muscle training and speed.

For the first month, Lucy had almost died of sore muscles and cramps on every part of her body. But she still woke up every day with determination and smiled thinking how it had been so fruitful. Her body lost whatever bit of fat she had and she could see her muscles firm up and her bust lost a lot of unwanted fat and firmed up, not bouncing every time she moved. Her tone stomach had firmed up to and she saw the faint line of her abs show which made her really happy.

Loke taught her how to use swords and even Taurus managed to not be so perverted and teach her how to handle an axe. Capricorn said that next month Saggitarius and Scorpio were going to teach her how to use daggers and bow and arrow.

Sitting on her bed, in the room given to her by Stash-face, Lucy smiled slightly thinking about what happened right after she met Aquarius.

* * *

 _The spirit had told her that was the last time she was going to meet her until she found her key and Lucy should thank the King for allowing her to meet her. She had walked in the throne room with Loke and had bowed down in front of the king and gave her the brightest smile she could muster before thanking him._

 _"Thank you for allowing me to meet her one last time. Thank you for letting me in your Realm. You are the best Stash-face." She giggled watching every other spirit in the room sweatdrop and finally, Lucy felt so relieved, it felt like she could breathe again._

 _Her smile grew when the King smiled back at her, much to the astonishment of many spirits present in the room._

 _ **"Old friend. I am glad to see you happy again. You worried us when your star lost its light."** His deep voice echoed around the room and Lucy looked at her feet, not liking how she made them worry. _

_" I didn't mean to make anyone of you worry. I am sorry." The pink glow on her cheeks would have made any mortal swoon and Loke chuckled at her slight embarrassment. He could see many spirits look at her with amazement and he couldn't help but look smug._

 _Ever since her fight with Angel, Lucy had drawn in the attention of many spirits, who wanted to work with her because of her kindness._

 ** _"Don't apologise, dear Lucy. It was inevitable. No one would want 'S_** _ **iderum Custos' to lose her light now would they?"** Lucy looked at him once and then blinked. She opened her mouth to say anything but nothing really came out of her mouth. _

_"You- You are making me the Siderum_ _Custos ?" She pointed fingers at herself and looked at him like he has lost his mind. She heard Loke chuckle but didn't turn to look at him._

 _ **"Of course. You are kind-hearted and loyal, your love for your spirits and your Namaka and everyone in this room does agree with me."** Stash-face was grinning at her but Lucy, for the first time lost her ability to think. Why would they make her the Guardian of the stars when she had broken a key? and how was she supposed to protect the spirits when she couldn't even protect herself? _

_"Princess, Please don't overthink." Her head snapped up and she blinked again, not recognising the spirit in front of her. He had dark skin, almost chocolate brown but icy blue hair_ _. He was almost as tall as Bickslow and looked down at her with kind grey eyes. Smiling at her, Lucy for a second thought he was a dragon slayer, looking at his sharp canines but his magic didn't feel like one. In fact, his magic had a cooling sensation to it and added the fact that his body had blue swirls of tattoo from his shoulder to his Lucy frowned._

 _"I didn't know there was an Element Spirit in the Celestial realm." Her statement surprised the man in front of her and she heard almost all her spirits chuckle. Looking up at him innocently once more, She noticed the small symbol right below his neck and gasped._

 _" You are Alpheus! Spirit of the ancient sea! The lost Palladium key!" Lucy couldn't keep the shock and wonder out of her voice, oblivious that every one of the spirits looked at her, stunned by her knowledge._

 _ **"That is correct, old friend.** " She looked at the king, who, if possible, had a soft expression on his face. **"There are many four other keys, along with his, scattered around the earth, waiting for Siderum Custos to come to find them. But for that, you need more training and need to master your magic."** Lucy looked at him, excited and determined and nodded her head, understanding what he meant. _

**_"Your spirits will train you and introduce you to your magic properly. Until then you will be staying here."_**

* * *

Bosco had a tropical feeling to it. The whole country was filled with vibrant colours and greenery, with people enjoying themselves, laughing and dancing, flirting with each other, Laxus couldn't help but compare everything to Fiore. It has been two weeks since their plane landed in Bosco, A week since he joined the White sea and he did really like it here.

It made him happy how at home Bix was, not worrying about wearing his visor or people will fear him, But it was Freed who made him raise his eyebrow. Not a week and he walked past Freed, who was pushed against the wall by Farron and were kissing each other with such raw passion, it gave him such a hard on he had happily accepted being invited to the privet curtains.

But apart from all the sex and mini-vacation they were all enjoying, Laxus still worried about Lucy a lot. He had yet to receive a word from her or any of her spirits which didn't ease his dragon at all. The only assurance he had that she was safe was that her kin mark was still on his upper arm. Biting his lip he looked at the table, eyes on the guild menu and a sad smile tipped on his lips looking at the Strawberry smoothie option. A tingling feeling went down his back and he suppressed the chuckle, knowing Kaleb was trying to dig into his mind. He turned around, smirking as he watched him narrow his eyes at him.

He stopped thinking about Lucy at all and fixed his attention to the music playing on his headphones. Kaleb, he knew, didn't know what the three of them were hiding and he had only let the matter slide because Bickslow had asked him to and Arman assured him that they have been through a tough time and to let them be.

Taking a sip from his beer mug, Laxus stopped when a scent entered his nose and turned around to watch the door, surprised at who it was. He was on his feet in seconds and walking towards her.

"Ever?" Laxus looked at her concerned, checking to see if she was alright and was genuinely taken aback when she ran towards him and hugged him. Her short frame was shaking slightly as Laxus held her close and he smelt the tears which made him frown but at the same time growl. Laxus saw Bickslow and Freed run towards them, both confused and shocked by the new arrival and he was aware that everyone was watching them.

"Come on Ever. Let's go somewhere we can talk, alright?" He let her down and looked at Kaleb who nodded his head before guiding her towards his office. Bickslow had his arm around the fairy mage and Laxus had to take a few breaths to calm his dragon. Why was it that every one of his Kins was hurting. Directing her towards the sofa, he sat next to her rubbing her back and waiting for her to stop crying.

It didn't bother him to comfort Evergreen. She was special to him and being the only girl in the group, she was like his little sister too. Once the brunette had calmed down, she took the glass of water Freed gave her and took a sip.

"What happened?" Bix kneeled down in front of her and she tried not to cry again.

"He broke up with me."Ever felt her voice quiver and she saw how they were looking at her, Concerned and angry but she didn't know where to go when Elfman said it was not working anymore between them. She would have gone to Lucy but she couldn't find her anywhere.

"Why?" Laxus growled and Ever hugged herself feeling slightly insecure.

"He said that he couldn't do this anymore and that our relationship was toxic. Mira tried to talk him out of it but... but he just looked at Lissana and she nodded at him. I thought... that you know, he was agreeing with Mira but Elfman gave me my suitcase and all he said was 'I'm sorry.' " wiping here face Evergreen looked at her lap and whispered.

"I tried to find Lucy. I asked Cana, Wendy, Gajeel almost everyone where she was but no one knew and no one could reach her so i thought she might be with you, that's why i came here." Laxus felt the tingling in his neck again and he cursed.

Apparently Freed did too because he quickly put his fingers on Evergreens forehead and muttered the spell under his breath.

The fairy mage looked at them confused and Laxus shushed her for a minute, listening carefully. When he heard no one or no scent entered his nose he whispered.

"Blonde is safe. She is not here and right now i can't tell you where she is but she is safe." He hugged her sideways before standing up and helped her up. " You are staying with us. No way in hell am i letting you go to Fiore." Laxus huffed making her grin and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, and you will forget all about him here in Bosco." Bickslow looked at her teasingly and she slapped his arm but smiled at him neither less.

* * *

 ** _{1 month later}_**

Laxus looked up, annoyed when Evergreen slammed a magazine in front of him. He saw the excitement in her eyes and looked down to see what she was showing him and his eyes widened in surprise. he bolted from his room, ignoring Ever's giggle and looked around for Bickslow, who happened to be sitting with Kaleb and Arman.

"Bix." His voice was rather light, which immediately caught the attention of everyone in the room and he watched Bicklsow walk towards him and gave him the magazine.

"We need to go back to Fiore." He breathes out, grinning when the Seith mage looked up with a huge smile.

 _It seems like the missing Light has finally returned! Lucy Heartfilia of Fairytail has finally been seen after a month of her guild being dissolved in the capital Crocus. The young mage was last seen entering the Royal Palace. Where had she been and what could be her business with the Royal family?"_


	4. Chapter 4

"What for?" was the first question Kaleb asked when Laxus talked about going back to Fiore. He had just gotten his brother back to Bosco and now, not even two months later, they already planned on heading back. And the fact that the entire Raijinshu had mind seals was beyond frustrating. It didn't take him much time to understand that he just couldn't look through their memory concerning one person, but definitely had to give it to them that for two months they had kept the name hidden from him, had impressed him, even though he culd have easily overthrown that spell.

Keeping a calm front, Kaleb looked into Laxus's mind once again, his happiness may have caused a loophole in the barrier wall, allowing him to enter but only meet with a steely gaze and a glare, making him raise his eyebrow at him. His internal debate about whether he should tell them or not made him slightly concerned.

Laxus shared a look with Bickslow and sighed. He was not in Fairytail anymore. He was not the guild master or his grandson, but a normal guild member and whatever said and done, Kaleb was his Guild Master.

"One of our guild members was MIA for a month and we now know where she is so we have to go back to Fiore to bring her with us." He tried to keep as calm as he could, but he finally had news on Blondie and wanted her home with him. Bickslow looked at him, chewing his bottom lip before looking at Kaleb and looked him pleadingly.

' _Please bro, we need to go. She is important. We can't leave her behind.'_ adding a bit of puppy dog eyes, he almost smiled when Kaleb rolled his eyes.

"You will be leaving tomorrow, with Vander and Christoff. Only you and Laxus." Kaleb sent Bickslow a stern look and the seith mage grinned before jumping to hug him.

* * *

Coming back to earth after spending a year there when only a month past by on earth was a strange feeling. She didn't feel like she had changed at all yet felt like she had grown up so much. She didn't feel as childish as she had before the whole ordeal. Took her time to understand what was happening around her before she reacted to a situation.

Brushing her hair, Lucy looked at herself in the mirror and smiled a little. Her eyes, which used to be brown mocha in colour, turned a shade lighter with small gold specks in them, it looked like she had stars in her eyes. Her skin had a glow to it, she was sure was because of her being in the Celestial realm. Loke joked that she looked like a goddess walking on earth, it made her roll her eyes at him.

That baka.

She left her hair open and grabbed her keys before making her way out of the room.

It has been a week since she came back and the first thing she did was take care of some personal stuff. Something she had wanted to do ever since the Grand Magic Games.

After meeting up with Princess Hisui and The King of Fiore, Lucy had tried finding Gajeel and Levy but turned out that they were on a mission for the council.

Cana had been next but the brunette was not responding to her Lacrima com and Lucy had huffed out an angry breath.

She decided to call her the next day but got a surprise of her own when she saw the Sorcerers weekly' headlines, ' _The Light is back.'_ it had made her blush at the attention but also put her guards up when she saw the pictures of her entering the Royal Palace.

She had quietly left Crocus and decided to head for Bosco since that was where Laxus and the others were. It amazed her that even after the Guild was dissolved, their main focus was still Fairytail and its mages.

Shaking her head, she waved at the receptionist and started walking towards the cemetery.

At least she could meet her parents once before she left for the new country. She had debated with herself about actually going to Bosvo but Lucy didn't want to stay alone in Fiore.

Yeah, she could join guilds with Cana or Wendy, or even stay with Gajeel and Levy, but her heart tugged her to go to Bosco and she didn't entirely hate the idea. It was a good opportunity to start fresh, new country, new culture, new people but still the same family. Before Tartaros, most of her time was spent with Laxus and the Raijinshu. Lucy remembered the day when Laxus had told her to be careful before she went on a mission and had said ' _Be careful Blondie. Don't want my kin getting hurt.'_ giving her a soft pat on her head had warmed her heart so much, Lucy had hugged him in the middle of the guild.

Sighing once again, she smiled at the florist and paid for both the bouquets and continued walking towards the cemetery. A smile on her face when she thought about her time in the Spirit Realm. She had deepened her relationship with each one of her spirits during that one year, not one-year time phase. She was glad that her Spirits had improved along with her an trained with her.

Lucy stops in front of her parents grave and leaned done to put the flowers, before sitting in between them. It reminded her of the time when she used to sneak into their bedroom to sleep between them, to wake up with her father tickling her or the sweet voice of her mother. For a second she thought she was being watched and turned around to take a good look at the cemetery before turning back to look at her fathers grave.

"Happy birthday papa." She whispered gently and ran her fingers on his gravestone. " I am fine now, you don't have to worry anymore. I know I am not alone. Fairytail... no Fairytail, it doesn't matter. I have my friends with me to help me and three very protective dragons." She giggled thinking about how they would always glare at men who tried to talk to her.

"Don't worry your poor heart, okay? They don't usually let strangers talk to me, so no one is going to whisk me away in the night sky." She felt a warm breeze pass her as if her father just caressed her face gently.

Turning to her mother, Lucy stopped for a second, leaned down and kissed her grave. Taking a deep breath, she sat straighter and sighed. "I miss you." was all she could say at the moment, feeling her throat brim up with emotions. " So much. I wish you were here with me so i could tell you about everything." she smiled a little and closed her eyes, imagining her mother hold her. "I started writing again. Finally got the time to start from where I left. I wish you were here to tell me how it is. Levy normally does but i don't think i will be seeing her for a long time." She looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Raijinshu is in Bosco, so that's where i am going. Laxus must be worried sick, Mavis, i shouldn't have left like that." groaning, Lucy put her head in her hands and sighed. Looking back up, she stood up in a fluent motion and fixed her dress.

"I will come back soon. There are things i still need to take care of." Smiling at the warm feeling coursing through her body, Lucy sighed and took a step back, before turning around and walking away, but rather than taking the normal exit, she walked towards the small chapel in the middle of the cemetery and stepped inside, making a bee-line to the donation box and putting money inside, only leaving enough for her to be able to travel to Bosco.

She felt the sir shift behind her and quickly turned around, Leo's key in hand but stopped short as a gasp let out of her lips. She didn't waste a moment and rushed into the arms of a grinning Seith mage, almost toppling them over. She almost squeezed his soul out of him, Lucy was that happy to see him. Not letting go of his arm, Lucy was bouncing with happiness.

"Bixy! I missed you!" smiling down at her the seith mage lifted his visor, knowing she prefered him to be comfortable around her. He noticed that Lucy had changed a lot, and actually had to squint his eyes when he casually checked on her soul. ' _Damn, what has she been going?'_

"What are you doing here? How did you even find me?" Lucy smiled at him as he threw his arm around her shoulder, both walking out of the building.

"Well, we would have taken you with us to Bosco, but I don't know, you disappeared." Rolling his tongue out, he gave her a teasing look and chuckled where her cheeks turned Pink. Pouting, she punched his stomach lightly before shaking her head.

"I would have gone with you, but my spirits had preferred me to stay with them until they had made sure i was okay." rolling her eyes fondly, Lucy tugged his arm and asked her question again. "How did you find me?" she moved out of his hold and put her hands on her hips, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Laxus did, actually. We checked Crocus first but he didn't 'sense' you there so we thought of all the places you could have gone and it he just... i don't really know how to describe it. His soul pointed out to him and here we are." Shrugging his shoulder, Bickslow took a good look at her. Her hair was longer, almost waist length and looked more ... golden. Her skin was glowing and still had that sun-kissed look it, it made her look like a goddess, truly a golden goddess. But her eyes, Bickslow had taken a deep breath when he saw her eyes. She could entrap anyone with her eyes. and then he saw it, as she turned around, asking where laxus was, a small tattoo right at the base of her neck, meeting her back.

He wanted to ask her when she got the time to get a tattoo, but he felt the magic in it and had to save his questions for later. Hearing Lucy whisper ' _holy shit.'_ under her breath, he looked up, an amused smirk on his face when he saw who she was looking at.

But Lucy couldn't look away, though. She saw Bickslow lost in thoughts and had sighed before looking around to find any signs of Laxus but only saw a man emerge from the shadows, a sinful smirk on his face as he looked at her with mirth in his red ruby eyes, but it looked hazy, set along with the intense look he gave her. His shoulder length black hair bounce slightly as he stalks towards them, a predatory gleam touched his face and, honestly, Lucy didn't mind being hunted down by him.

He was not tall has Bickslow, but Lucy did have a thing about Tall guys. He was extremely handsome, almost too handsome, it should be a crime. And his body, Mavis, Lucy was ready to commit any sin with this guy. His grey shirt hugged his body and Lucy could see his abs through the opaque material, his ripe muscle arms and Lucy almost moaned when he bit his lip, looking down at her.

Both seemed to be in a trace which was broken when the man yelped and jumped a step back and glaring at someone behind her. Turning to look who had broken her sweet moment with this stranger, Lucy almost forgot all about him, almost, when she saw who it actually was. Smiling the sweetest smile, she stepped away from the stranger and briskly walked towards her blonde dragon, who was still glaring at the stranger, a deep threatening growl rumbling through his chest.

Throwing her arms around him, Lucy grinned against his chest when he tightened his hold on her and bend down to take her scent in. He deserved a whole bowl full of lightning lacrima chips from her. "I am sorry i went away like that." She mumbled against his hold, shivering with slight fear when he growled at her. Leaning back she smiled sheepishly at him and tiptoed to kiss his cheek, knowing that usually calmed his raging dragon. She wanted to smack her head on a wall or something, not realising sooner that it would hurt him, not knowing where she was or if she was okay.

Dragons may be beasts but they were very protective when it came to their family or mates. Not knowing if their kin was safe or not, often made them extremely agitated and irritated until they were certain about their health and safety. She did continue to smile until Laxus made sure she was okay and not hurt in any way before he zapped her lightly making her yelp and rub her arm.

" I said I was sorry!" She pouted at him, trying to sooth the tingling in her arm, stopping when he glared down at her and showed her his canines threateningly. Lucy shuddered a little and raised both her hands in surrender when he crossed his arm and scolded her like she was a child.

"A word would have been nice. Damnit Blondie! I was worried sick." smacking her head lightly when she mumbled 'you're blonde too.' ignoring Bickslow's snicker and Lucy turned to glare at the man who crossed his arms and gave her a pointed look.

"Don't look at me like that. With everything that happened, everyone was worried about you Lucy. It was a good thing we knew who you were with, otherwise, Fairytail would have levelled the entire country to find you." His statement did hit her in a way, making her look at her feet, Lucy felt even worse about not telling them sooner. Whispering a quiet sorry under her breath, Lucy played with the hem of her shirt, feeling like a child once again.

She heard both Laxus and Bickslow sigh and peaked at the blonde slayer from under her lashes, and tried not to grin when his features turned soft and he pulled her in for a hug once again. Lucy broke apart when she suddenly felt a strange feeling at the base of her neck and turned around to look who had joined the party, and saw another male standing next to the mystery guy and once again Lucy was floored. ' _what is with these men! Mavis, they are gorgeous.'_ Lucy swallowed once and studied his features, while he studied her.

He had black hair, longer than the other hottie, his face looked calm and had a serene glow to him, like the moon, and dear lord, his eyes. They looked like the night sky, small speckles of silver were like stars in a pool of unique blue shade. His nose was sharp and his full lips were slightly parted, and if Lucy though the other guy was ripped, Lord help her, he was a mountain almost same build as Laxus. And then Lucy saw his eyes darken a shade and a soft purr escaped his lips, fully clearing her doubt.

Stepping away from Laxus, who growled at her, she walked towards the blue-eyed beauty and looked at him in the eye, watching his face become a little hazy just like the other man and watched him dip down, his nose in her hair, taking a deep breath before a soft rumble vibrated through his chest. Looking down at his arm, Lucy lifted his hand up and slowly swiped her finger at the inside of his wrist, watching a small tattoo appear on his skin before smiling up at him.

"Alright. Anybody wants to explain to me what the fuck is happening?" a deep baritone spoke from her right and she bit her lip, cheeks turning red with embarrassment. Bickslow walked up and stood next to her, studying the mark before chuckling and looking at Lucy with amusement.

"Cheerleader. I want you to meet my young brothers, Vander Pradesh and Christoff Pradesh." He pointed towards the one with red eyes first and then the one with blue eyes who was still staring at her.

"And my bro's, I want you to meet Cheerleader, aka, Lucy Heartfilia, Light of Fairytail." Bickslow made dramatic gestures towards both the party, making Lucy giggle at his antics and she waved at both the men in front of her, smiling shyly as Bickslow continued to explain what had happened.

"Christoff just accepted Lucy as her Kin, so that was Lucy giving him her mark to create a link with him." Rolling his tongue out her nudged Lucy teasingly and the Blonde slapped his arm. "Shut up Bix." before looking back at both the men and smiling a little, "It is nice to meet you. Bix talked a lot about you guys." She put her hand forward for a handshake, but Vander apparently had other ideas and pulled her closer to him before kissing the corner of her mouth, making her shiver slightly.

He ignored the growling lightning dragon and once again looked at the intriguing blonde who had a pretty blush on her face, If Vander had been in Bosco, he would have asked her to share pleasure with him as soon as he saw her. This woman was really, the sexiest yet innocent one he has ever seen and damn, he wanted her in his bed.

The moment he saw her, he knew exactly why Laxus and Bix had hidden away her memories from Kaleb. He can't wait to see his families reaction to the beautiful woman.

* * *

After another threatening zap and glares from, surprisingly, both the dragon slayers, Vander let go of Lucy who had taken a step back and tucked her hair behind her ear before asking Bickslow where his babies were.

"If i didn't know better, cosplay, i would say you love me because of my babies." he grinned at her, smiling as she laughed at looked at him teasingly. "You didn't know, Bix. I do love those little cuties more than I love you." She winked at him and handed him his visor as the entire group left the cemetery, laughing internally at such an emotional meeting in a location like that.

"Miss Lucy, may i ask what kind of mage you are?" A calm deep voice entered her ear and Lucy smiled at Christoff.

"Just call me Lucy. And I am a celestial spirit mage." she saw understanding wash over his features and nodded. "Yeah. You are a lunar dragon slayer, yes? That's why there was the immediate attraction. Both of us gain magic energy from celestial bodies, have the same magic source so it was easier for your dragon to consider me a Kin before it actually knew me." Gently explaining it to him, she smiled softly as he nodded his head and Lucy turned around to look at Laxus once again.

"I was actually on my way to Bosco once i heard you were there. I wanted to surprise you." Pouting, she glared playfully at him and grinned when he smiled down at her.

"Well, then let's go to Bosco." He raised his eyebrow at her and she frowned. "Right away?" brushing her hand on Virgo to pack her stuff from the hotel and felt her lips tip up a bit when he grunted in affirmation.

"Are you going to lightning teleport us there?" She looked at him curiously, knowing he can't take more than two people during his lightning teleport and frowned when he shook his head. A hand settled on her shoulder and she turned around to look at Christoff who smirked at her before her Vision turned white and air left her lungs for a second before her feet were firmly planted on the ground once again. The hand on her shoulder tightened in acknowledgement and she felt hot breath tickle her ear as Vander leaned in to whisper.

"Welcome to Bosco, Lucy."


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy held back a shudder and slowly moved out of Vander's arms, looking around the city in amazement. Her feet worked on their own accord as she let her eyes roam around, soaking every detail of the busy street, the people showing off their beautiful tan skin, some glistening with sweat giving it a subtle glow to it. Women walking in bikini tops and short shorts or a soft piece of fabric showing off their long thighs and legs and only covering privet parts. They wore traditional jewellery around their neck or stomach and honestly, Lucy was already in love with this place. Men wore either no shirts or open vests, with tight leggings or shorts.

On top of that, the whole city was decorated as if it was a festival with colourful stores on the street and the number of flowers and trees just made the whole street look like a fairytale. She was half aware of people stopping to look at her, her entire focus was on the library right in front of her, making a mental point come back later. She passed by a group of men, who looked at her with heavy lids and smiled at her and out of courtesy she smiled back until Bickslow put his arm around her shoulder.

"Careful, cosplay. Don't go around giving men a boner just by smiling at them." He crackled as Lucy blushed lightly but smiled innocently at him. She looked ahead, smiling at the sound of the soft beat in a distance. For her, this was really a party country. As they walked closer to what seemed like a beach party, Lucy swayed innocently to the beat, ignoring the heated glaze on her back and hummed along with the tune.

Then she heard a deep feral growl and a cote was laid on top of her, automatically engulfing her in warmth. She looked at him in disbelief and tried to shrug off the coat.

"It's hot, Laxus! I am not wearing your damn coat." She met his glare with her own and raised her eyebrow at him, ignoring his growl and pulled the hot blanket of her body. Huffing, she passed it on the Bickslow now feeling sweaty, drew more attention to her as she pulled her hair up and threw it in a ponytail.

Chuckling slightly at the little spitfire, Vander walked next to her and grinned down at her. "How are you liking Bosco so far?" letting his arm brush against her creamy arm and bit his lip a little when she shivered and looked up at him from under her lashes before looking straight again

"Its just like i imagined." He watched her take a deep breath and watched her plum lips tip into a small smile making him take a deep breath himself. ' _Good_ _gods, her most innocent actions are so damn attractive.'_ Deciding he needed to tease her more he leaned down and let his lips brush against her ear and whispered, "Think you can handle a Boscan man, sweetheart." Grinning as she stopped, thinking he got to her, but Lucy just put her hand on his chest and looked at him, her nose almost touching his and he would have dived in to kiss her when she whispered.

"I can handle you just fine. The question is, can you handle me?" Smiling teasingly at him, she kissed his cheek and let him go with a giggle and continued walking as if none of it happened. She heard both Christoff and Laxus chuckle with Bickslow laughing out loud at his stunned brother.

Lucy fist bumped Bickslow and followed him into the large estate, suddenly feeling shy once again and held on to his shirt a little, knowing he won't say anything to her. She took in every feature of the estate and felt Bix put his hand on her back and gently guided her to a room to his left and Lucy looked around the elegant sitting room when her eyes landed on the people in the room and bit her lip shyly before smiling. Lucy has known Bix for years now, and the day he had told her his full name was the day Lucy had turned into a total fangirl.

As much as she had hated her father before Tenrou Island, she had always thanked him for pushing her to extend her knowledge in every field. She had learned about everything from running a business to making international deals, and during that time, Lucy had greatly admired Arman Pradesh. He was a man with a will of iron, a heart of gold and his good looks made him quite famous among the high society of Fiore. Men hated him for his way of handling business and women loved him for his good looks.

Lucy, however, has always admired him for all the good work he has done for the society. So seeing him stand in front of her had suddenly made her really shy and she hated how hard her cheeks were blushing right now. And the fact that another very very good looking man was standing next to him was not helping her in any way. ' _Do they have some sort of factory where they manufacture this level of perfection.'_

Bickslow put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her forward until she was standing right in front of him.

"Dad. I want you to meet Lucy Heartfilia. Celestial spirit mage. And Cheerleader, by the look on your face, you already know who my dad is." sending her a teasing look, Bickslow groaned when she digs her elbow in his stomach and smiled sweetly at him which made him shiver and take a step back, before turning back towards his father once again.

"Its a pleasure to meet you, Mr Pradesh. I have always admired your work as the ambassador of Bosco." Shanking his firm hand, still feeling the colour in her cheeks. She saw the man smile at her, his eyes were warm with fatherly affection that Lucy looked away for a second.

"I remember you very well, my dear. Please don't be so formal. Call me Arman." He pulled her in for a hug and looked at the rest of his sons with a teasing smile before pulling back and taking a good look at the girl in front of him.

"Last time I met you, I clearly remember you drag Lady Esna through the mud." laughing lightly at the memory, he watches her face fill with slight amusement and shyness. "One cannot sit and listen to a Lady of such high status abuse her title to belittle men of lower society. After all, it is them who do all her work." Recalling her words form that night and smiling at the man laughed again, making her toes curl up.

"You followed your mother's footsteps to become a wizard I see." he leads her to the couch, confused when all three ex-Fairytail snorted and chuckled a bit.

"More like, run away from home to follow my dreams." Smiling teasingly at him, astonishing the man who gave her an impressed look.

"Heiress of Heartfilia business runs away to become a mage. Such a scandal." Chuckling at the headlines of possible papers he watches, amused as the little lady shrugged her shoulders and grinned at him.

"No, Heiress of Heartfilia business runs away to avoid marriage, joining a guild to defy her father, Scandal." giggling at the papers heading, thinking about the adrenal that had coursed through her blood during that time.

"How ignorant of me, keeping all your attention to myself. Lucy, this is my oldest son, Farron Pradesh." Lucy turned her attention to the man sitting next to his father and shook his hand, biting her lip when he kissed her knuckles and smiled at her. He was just as attractive as his brothers with caramel blonde hair, a beautiful mixture between brown and blonde, with tanned skin and the baby blue eyes stood out, making them look like blue apatite gemstones. He was as tall as Bickslow, Lucy was going to beat the crap out of him for not telling me he had such handsome brothers.

"Its a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lucy." He had enough Knowledge about her to know that she was not only good looks but also a very intelligent and well-read woman, who had information about almost everything relating to business, politics, law and defiantly knew her way around people.

"Please call me Lucy. Miss Lucy is too formal for my taste." waving her hand, trying to dismiss the vivid memory of her father shouting at the house staff for calling her by her first name on her request and cringed when Farron frowned at her with an annoyed look on his face. He was a sound mage, of course, he could listen to what she was thinking.

Arman, sensing the girl was suddenly tense, clapped his hand and stood up.

"How about Bickslow will show you your room and you freshen up. Supper is at 2, so you have a half hour to yourself." He offered her his hand and helped her up, smiling as she relaxed a little again. She gently glides towards her friend and rolled her eyes at him when he dramatically offered her his arm.

They walked in silence for a few seconds before Lucy giggled, making Bix chuckle next to her. "Mavis, I must have looked like such a Fangirl!" She laughed, shaking her head and grinning at Bixy who raised his eyebrow at her and smirked.

"You sure did. I was surprised when you didn't... i don't know, embarrass yourself." Chuckling as she slaps his arm and rolls her eyes. Taking her upstairs, Bickslow showed her into the room at the end of the hall and let her look around before telling her to be down in time and leaving her alone to her thoughts.

Looking around, Lucy smiled again before groaning and sitting down on the couch with her head in her hand. Being in the celestial realm had filled her with so much magic, ever since she came back she had felt tipsy making her all giggly. She stood up reluctantly and dragged herself to the bathroom and stripped out of her clothes and happily stood under the cool water, washing off the excess heat and sweat of her body and grabbed whatever shampoo was available and massaged her head, moaning at the soothing sensation it sent through her skull.

Washing her body once, she turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around her. Walking outside, smiling as she saw her outfit laid on the bed, Lucy quickly wore her pink underwear and stood in front of the mirror, admiring her body. Her D-cup filled her bra perfectly and her ab lines were more prominent and she bit her lip as she wore a simple waist chain, letting it hand loosely along her curvy waist before putting on her floral crop top, ending at the right length, showing off her stomach and the chain and only showing a hint of her cleavage.

Sliding on her white denim shorts, Lucy grinned as they hugged her ass in the right way and ending an inch below her buttcheeks. They showed her toned thighs and Lucy couldn't help but smirk. Slipping her feet into a pair of tan strap sandals. She brushed her hand on Cancer's key and grinned as her spirit popped up in front of her.

"What would you like me to do today, ebi?" Cancer smiled down at her master and watched her sit on the bed, her back towards him and smile kindly at him.

"I think Beach waves would match the outfit?" She asked his opinion and Cancer nodded his head approvingly.

"Good choice, Ebi. Now sit while I work my magic." Lucy smiled and sat back patiently and made small talks with him, asking her how Aquarius was? About Stash-face and After a year ( Not a year) Lucy was more comfortable talking about Aquarius, knowing that the spirit was always going to watch over her.

Thanking Cancer as he finished doing her hair, Lucy kisses his cheek before he disappeared back to the celestial realm and grabbed her keys on her way out of the room. She still had five minutes so taking a look around the house as she glided down the stairs, Lucy almost squealed out of happiness when she heard a familiar voice call her out.

"You bitch. You are such a bitch." Giggling, Lucy tossed her hair over her shoulder dramatically and tilted her head like a snob.

"Oh please. I am not _a_ bitch. I am _the_ bitch." laughing, she hugged the brunette and smiled when Ever pulled back to grin at her. "I missed you, Lucy. Mavis, being stuck in a house full of testosterone was driving me mad." Evergreen rolled her eyes and grinned at with the laughing blonde who sent her a teasing smile.

"Or maybe being stuck in a house full of gorgeous men was driving you mad." Ever glared at her playfully but smirked. "That too, i guess."

Her smile turned into a concerned look and she took both her hands in hers, "How are you?" her voice was soft and warm and Lucy smiled by sadly. Capricorn had told her that he had to tell someone from her guild where she was, and since Laxus had come looking for her, Lucy already knew that Laxus knew about what had happened. So it was obvious that his team did too.

"I am as fine as I can be right now." Squeeze her hand in appreciation.

"You know you can come to me to talk about anything, right?" Ever linked their hands together and they made their way towards the dining room and Lucy nodded her head and smirked a bit.

"I know. It's a good thing because we have a lot to talk about." She let out a dreamy sigh and enjoyed the laugh of her friend.

Lucy walked in after Ever and she once again, being surrounded by men who looked like gods walking on earth left her so overwhelmed. She smiled at Christoff and Arman, Waved at Farron and grinned when her eyes meet Freed's who was quick on his feet to pull her into a hug. The number of hugs she got today made her grin a bit.

"You did injustice to us by leaving us with an angry dragon." Teasing her he smiled, watching her look at him sheepishly.

"Yeah, not cool Cosplay. He was a nightmare to be with and Slitherfuck and Tinhead would call growling and shit." Bickslow shivered and Lucy tried not to grin but failed miserably as an unladylike snort escaped her lips and she giggled.

"God. Slitherfuck." She laughed and fist-bumped Bix who felt like he won a lottery making her laugh like that. Sliding in between Evergreen and Bix she looked up at Freed who was sitting close to Farron and smiled at him, giving him a knowing look, making the man blush.

"Well, my dear. This is Mr Elan, our family cook, and this is Lucy. She is Bickslow's friend from Fairytail." Arman waved at the happy man, who beamed at the blonde and bowed down a little.

"I apologise, but my son Kaleb couldn't join us. Last minute meeting." Arman ignored the smug look everyone shared with each other, other than Lucy who just waved her hand in understanding.

"My daughters are also not here. Emzadi is on a mission and will be back next week and Xali is in Medical school and will graduate in a month's time." he proudly explained and Lucy smiled at his fatherly affection for his children. She placed a garlic bread on her plate, thinking about her father. The only time he had wanted to show his love for her was when he thought she was dead. She pressed her lips together and tried to wash away the bad memories.

"Tell me, dear, What are your plans in Bosco? How long do you plan to stay here?" Arman saw the pang of hurt in her eyes and tried to distract her from whatever he said caused her pain.

He has met a lot of people during his time as the ambassador and the first time he met her was when she was attending the same social event with her father as he conducted business. He remembered watching her walk in the room with a polite smile on her face, but being a father of seven children, he saw the pain and sorrow swimming in those innocent brown eyes. It was not an uncommon sight in high society, to see the women of the household silent and hiding their pain well being the mask of social politeness and etiquettes they have been taught since they were little.

She would have been fifteen at that time, same age as Xally, but the way she held herself as she passed the judging eyes of the people eyes around him had sparked her interest a little. He listened closely to any conversation she had, amazed at her sharp tongue and quick wit, at how she had handled the rude ladies, who left no opportunity to send barbs her way, with such great ease and nonchalant tone he had to fight back a smile many times.

Then during supper, Arman had managed to sit close to her enough to listen to her conversation without looking like he was eavesdropping. Lady Esna was the wife of Lord Simsmiths, who loved to brag about her wealth and her control over people in her life. She had somewhat scolded Lucy for thanking the helper for serving food to her and the blonde had just smiled and answered back politely, though her words were anything but.

 _"I am not sure how you see things, m'lady, but my father and late mother have always taught me to give importance to everyone in life. After all, it is our duty as ladies of high society to set an example of politeness and mannerism for the generation to come rather than throw mud of men of lower status who do everything we consider to downgraded for our lifestyles."_

Arman remembered hearing a few Lords choke on their food and the ladies throwing her glares from all direction while Lady Esna sat there stunned.

"Well, If it is not too much to ask, I would love to join White sea with Raijinshu. I don't plan on settling back in Fiore right now." Lucy elucidated with a slight smile and questioning look directed at Laxus who rolled her eyes and threw a pea on her face and smirked.

"Yeah, I rather you stay with me than go back." ducking when Lucy threw the pea back and chuckling at her pouting face. Arman looked at his plate feeling happy that the blonde was going to stay with them. He though her company was going to be a good thing for his children. After all, there had to be a reason she was considered the light of Fairytail.

Catching the eye of his eldest who gave him a deadpan look, He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

After Lunch was over, Arman watched her interact with Vander, teasing him back when he made the first move but putting him back in his place as soon as he got too cocky or smile and talk about her magic with Christoff and offered to explain it to him in detail later.

Her Interaction With Farron and Freed was a total of three sixty degrees from what her conversation with Bickslow or Vander and Christoff were. While she joked with them and teased back, with Farron and Freed, she debated over anything both the men had to offer just made him like her so much more.

For the first time, he wished he had Kaleb's ability to see into peoples minds to see how her pretty brain worked.

Gods, he hoped one of his sons realise what a gem she is and make her his daughter-in-law.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucy settled on her bed, next to Evergreen and waited until Laxus, Freed and Bix were settled before she started.

"Okay. First, I really want to apologise. I am sorry for disappearing like that and for making you guys worry. I know Capricorn already explained everything to you but i just wanted to tell you what had happened myself. " Taking a deep breath, she looked as everyone gave her a curious look, waiting for her to start.

"During Tartaros, when everyone was under the spell-" she stopped when Laxus raised his hand.

"You don't have to tell us Blonde." He watched her shake her head and smile back at him, though it looked sad.

"I do. I owe you an explanation." She tucked her hair behind her ear and gulped a little.

"When everyone was under the spell, only I was left out and Jackel and Torafuzar came out of nowhere. I tried to fight them, summoned Sagittarius and the others but nothing was working. I already had Virgo and Loke out and I needed help so I opened the third gate." She saw Freed look at her in wonder and slight fear.

"I... Aquarius was able to hold them back and I... was running out of magic. She told me that there was a spell, a way to summon the Celestial King and I agreed to go through it but then she told me that-" She took in a shaky breath and feeling the whole incident replay in front of her eyes.

"She told me that to summon the Spirit King, the holder had to break the key they held dearest to their heart. I tried to think of any other way, anything else but i couldn't think of one and Aquarius... she told me to break her's and I... well... rest you know." Clearing her throat of all the emotions, she felt her lips wobble a little and bit them hard. Evergreen had her hands on her mouth and Laxus and Bickslow had their eyes closed, pain on their face, while Freed just looked at his lap and clenched his hands.

"I am telling you this because I want you to know that whatever happened the day Master dissolved the guild, I was... I had lost a part of my mind, suppressing all the pain away, hoping to find comfort in my family and then everything felt like it was crumbling away." Lucy chuckled a humourless laugh and looked at her fingers and whispered.

"I don't blame anyone for leaving. For wanting to get away or leaving with just a note. The only thing that stings is that my team left without a word." She looked out the window next to her bed, overlooking the beach and sighed.

"So please don't be mad with them because of me. I understand that is your first instinct, seeing me hurt-" She looked at Laxus when he growled and narrowed his eyes at her. Smiling, Lucy rolled her eyes fondly at him.

"Don't growl. You know its true. Anyways, Loke had Stash-face open his gate forcefully so he could talk to me. I don't remember much after that, only waking up in the Celestial world." She put her head on Ever's shoulder smiling when she linked her hand with hers.

"Stash face let me meet Aquarius one last time." She looked at the shocked faces of her friend and giggled. " That was my reaction. She drowned me in one of her waves and scolded me for doubting myself and told me to not let what happened from keeping me grow and become a stronger mage." Smiling at the memory, Lucy felt Ever squeeze her hand and smile at her.

"Stash face broke two of his rules by letting me meet with the spirit i had no contract with and letting me stay in the Spirit realm for one year." Lucy laughed, missing her slip up and facepalmed when Bickslow pointed it out to her.

"One year? You were gone for One month." He raised his eyebrow at her and Laxus and Freed frowned at her. Biting her lip, Lucy looked a little unsure at what she should say and sighed when Loke gave her the green light to tell them through their link.

"Well, you see... When i met Stash-face, he sort of... kind of made me the... Siderum Custos." Her voice lowered to mere whispers but everyone heard her clearly and she cringed when they shouted, dumbfounded by her revelation.

Freed was the first to calm down and looked at her in all seriousness and asked her slowly. "Lucy. Were you made the guardian of the stars by the Celestial Spirit King? Did I get it correct?" His eyes were wide and he let out a short breath when she nodded her head before smiling widely at her.

"Do you know what that means!? You get to learn forgotten magic!" He looked at her amazed and all of them nearly lost it when she looked at her fingers and innocently muttered.

"I already did." Her statement was followed by an "Oh my god." "Holy shit Cosplay!" "The Fuck, Blondie!" "Dear Mavis." from her friends and she looked at them from under her lashes and tried smiling at them but her cheeks turned red at the attention.

"Stash-face let me train with my spirits in a Realm in between Earthland and the Celestial world where the time went by really fast. Meaning three days here, was one month there." She hugged a pillow and waited for her friends to comprehend what hey had learned, watching them lean back, making sense of everything that happened.

A smile lit on her face when Ever breath out, "Tell me everything."

* * *

Kaleb was going to kill Farron. He had been on his way home when his dad called in to tell him that Farron could not make it, and since he was already at the guild, he could attend the meeting with some investors, only to learn later that his brother had attended the family lunch with the person that had intrigued him and he has not even met her yet.

He heard the snip pits of everyone's thoughts about the girl and only heard hushed whispers as everyone was blocking him from listening, fueling his anger even more. It was beyond his understanding why anyone won't let him know anything about her, or what she did to make everyone block him.

It was already 5:30 when he left the meeting room and staggered back to his office, propping down on his chair and sighing deeply. He wanted to rest his head a little when his head was filled with his little brother's voice.

' _You might want to come down.'_ Vander, he could hear his internal chuckle and sighed before standing up again, running his hand through his hair and opening the door to leave the room, when the thoughts about an unknown beauty exploded in his head making him stumble a little and then frown.

As he walked down the stairs, his eyes landed on Bickslow and Farron, who he glared at making his older brother chuckle before trying to see who it was behind them, when a sweet voice entered his head making him blink a little.

' _Gods, if people keep looking at me like that i am going to ask Virgo to dig a hole for me.'_ His lips parted a little when Farron moved out of his line of sight and the first thing that he saw was beautiful brown eyes connect with his soft lavender ones.

 _'Mother of cinnamon roll'_ was all Lucy could think at the moment. Her mind just went blank as soon as he made eye contact with her. His lavender eyes and platinum blonde hair made him stand out from the rest of his siblings so easily and his full lips made Lucy want to bite them. His face was perfectly symmetrical and his broad muscles and perfectly sculptured body made her want to run her finger on his chest. Catching his eye again, she saw the amused smile on his face and quickly remembered what Bix had told her.

' _Holy stars of the spirit world, i need to know what they do here in Bosco to look this beautiful.'_ Biting her lip she almost moaned when his eyes travelled along the length of her body, making her squirm under his gaze, suddenly feeling really hot.

"While i love to see you eye-fuck my brother..." Bix cleared his throat making her snap out of her dazed state and blush with embarrassment she glared weakly at her friend who looked at her with mischief before he pointed towards his brother once again, her eyes following only to notice that the man had yet to look away.

"Kaleb this is Lucy Heartfilia. She is a Celestial mage and known as the Light of Fairytail. Cheerleader, This is my older brother Kaleb Pradesh. He is the guild master of White sea and Fifth wizard Saint of Bosco." Bickslow proudly pointed out and Lucy smiled shyly at him, somewhat intimidated by the beautiful man. If Lucy had thought that his brothers were Gods walking on earth, she was clearly wrong and felt like a poor peasant in front of this man.

' _On the contrary, I feel that we look mortals in front of you.'_ A smooth Velvety voice floated in her head and her eyes snapped up to meet his once again. Oh, right. He was a Mindbender. Of course, he can listen to her thoughts. Blushing once again, she raised her hand for a handshake and shivered at the feel of his colossal hands on her skin, and gulped when he smiled down at her.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Lucy. I must say, your friends and my brother did everything in their power to stop me from having a glimpse of your face or know anything about you at all." Chuckling a little, Once again, Lucy was floored. _'I don't think my heart can_ _handle any more beautiful men today.'_

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Master Kaleb. While i can't comment on what you just said but i can only warn you to get used to the overprotective behaviour of a certain Dragon head." Smiling Teasingly at him, she withdrew her hand first, trying to ignore the sparks that linger on her skin where he touched. She ignored when Laxus grumbled behind her or how Bickslow and the rest laughed, her only focus on the deep chuckle that came from the man in front of her.

"Come. We need to get you a guild mark and get you settled in." Smiling down at the goddess in front of him, Kaleb ignored the teasing smirks on everyone's face other than Laxus who narrowed his eyes at him.

' _I don't even blame Laxus for hiding her from us. Dad has already declared that he loved her as his new daughter.'_ Hearing Farron from behind him, Kaleb nodded his head and looked at him over his shoulder.

' _She doesn't even know how alluring she looks to people. No wonder Bix and his team were determined to keep her away from anyone. I am surprised Laxus didn't lock her in a tower, though, he sure is thinking about it.'_

 _He_ Still couldn't take his eyes of the blonde who walked one step ahead of him, looking around the guild or anything that intrigued her mind on the way to his office. She was a vision, to be honest. Her skin looked so creamy and had that glow to it along with her complexion, it made her look like an angel, who's waist length Blond hair swayed along with her teasing hips as she walked, not knowing the effect it had on him and his siblings except Farron. Her toned stomach along with her ample breasts and wide hips almost had him groaning when he took her whole image in. When she bit her lip, Kaleb had to stop himself from letting the shudder that she sent through his body show.

But as sinful as her body was, Her eyes were just as innocent. He didn't have to read her mind to see the sorrow swimming in those pool of chocolate but to his surprise, The moment she recalled he was a mind bender, he mentally felt her put up barriers on parts of her brain, stopping him from knowing too much about her. She was guarded. He had to give her that. At least he can still hear her thinking.

As soon as Everyone was in his office, Kaleb noticed how close Lucy stood next to Laxus and how the lightning dragon let her lean on to his side.

He walked over to his desk and grabbed the guild stamp before motioning Lucy to come forward.

Lucy, however, felt warm walking closer to Kaleb as he leaned against his desk casually and turned around, Sliding her shirt off her right shoulder and bringing her hair back up front to clear his way. She felt his fingers brush lightly against her tattoo and shivered, ignoring how Ever was smirking at her, looking down as Kaleb grab hold of her other shoulder before placing the seal in her exposed one. Looking down at her hand, her throat clogged a little seeing her guild mark fade away but felt the magic of her new guild mark travel through her shoulder making her let out a silent breath

Her mind went back to what had happened during Eclipse and Lucy briefly wondered if this is why she didn't have her guild mark.

Feeling Kaleb's hand tighten on her shoulder, she turned around to look at him over her shoulder before she stepped out of his hold, to get a good look at his face. She was sure he saw the image of what had happened and mentally send a small sorry his way before taking a step back, only for him to grab her hand and kiss it lightly, sending pleasurable sparks throughout her entire body.

' _Dear Mavis. I need to get away before my brain turns into mush.'_ She received a lopsided grin from her new guild master who smiled at her and whispered a little huskily.

"Welcome to White sea, Lucy."

* * *

By the time Lucy had finished greeting everyone in White sea, her bones were ready to tune into water, she was that tired. Taking a sip of strawberry smoothie, an involuntary moan left her mouth as she hummed at the taste, oblivious to the number of head turns the noise had caused.

White Sea was almost like Fairytail, almost. The only difference was the lack of a bawl which was usually started by her teammates. She smiled thinking about all the time Natsu and Grey got into trouble for breaking something or mostly destroying Erza's cake making her giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" An amused voice had her looking at her right and she grinned and giggled once again. Bickslow leaned against the counter, looking at her, waiting she would tell him what was on her mind, smiling at her obvious giddiness.

"Just how Natsu and Grey got in trouble for fighting." she smiled against her straw before taking a sip, her smile not falling off her face. Bickslow chuckled next to him, he himself missing the liveliness of his former guild. It was always fun to take part in guild bawls and blame Flamebrain and Icestick for starting it.

"That used to be fun. I got to kick some ass and blame someone else." Rolling his tongue out, Bickslow noticed how many heads Lucy turned just by laughing. Once she finished her smoothie, she hummed in happiness and stretched her arms above her head to relax her sore muscles and Bickslow almost fell down from his chair at how hard he was trying not to laugh, watching his guild members and brothers trail their eyes over her smooth back which rode up as she stretched and nearly snickered when Laxus growled at the man who stood up walking in her directing, obviously to ask her if she wanted to share pleasures with him.

He was kind of surprised to see Kaleb stop what he was doing to look at his friend as well.

"Evergreen and I are going to the beach tomorrow morning. Though boys are not allowed i was hoping you could tell me where i could get candy for Plue." Lucy tugged his shirt to get his attention, not having the energy to repeat everything she said.

"Sure. I know a place where they have his favourite lollipop. It's actually a famous candy shop. Imported stuff and all." Bicks watched her twirl around swirling bar stool and shook his head when she grinned at him.

"Do they have Rocky Caramel? Aries loves them. Or Sour Candy? That's Capricorn's favourite. I always thought he would like classic stuff like milk chocolate or i don't know, sugar candy? He surprised me when he told me he likes sour candy." She smiled when her keys lit up a little and brushed her finger on them in acknowledgement.

"Lucy. I was heading back, do you wanna join me?" She heard evergreen call her and she nodded her head and hopped off the stool and skipped towards her friend who was smiling at her. "Sure thing. I am so tired right now. I hardly slept last night." She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes a little, Both women walking out of the guild leaving a lot of following eyes behind.

* * *

It was 10:30 at night and Lucy sat on the floor, a sheet of paper in front of her as she wrote her mother a letter.

She had wanted to just go to sleep when she came back to Arman's house at 9 but finally finding the solitude, she began working on a few things, her coffee table filled with books from the spirit world and paper in her hand for making notes.

Once she decided she couldn't work anymore she had just grabbed her paper and pen and settled fown on the floor to pour her heart out to her mother.

 _Mama,_

 _It was good to see you today, I apologize for leaving so quickly this time. You know i would have spent more time with you but i was so excited about going to Bosco with Bix and Laxus I didn't even think twice before saying yes._

 _You should know, I am really struggling on my feet here on my very first day. It took every cell in my body and a few unpleasant memories to stop myself from jumping Bix's brothers. I think he deserves to be punished. Maybe I will let Virgo do that for not telling me just how attractive they all were. He had mentioned that they were quite famous but now i understand what they were famous for. They are really the most beautiful men i have ever seen, it had taken my breath away._

 _Cana would have died on the spot once she laid eyes on any one of them._

 _Arman has been really kind and gentle, just like i imagined him to be. Do you think that if you were alive, Papa would have been like him? It made me a little envious at how much he loved all of them, but it made my heart turn warm at the same time._

 _I joined White Sea today and I have to admit, it hurt to see my guild mark_ _fade away like that. It doesn't matter what happened recently, but you know that ever since I was a child, The only thing that kept me going was one day I will be a part of that guild and I was. I had fun and made such amazing friends, so many memories that i will never regret my decision._

 _It's funny actually. At one time in my life I would have laughed at the idea of joining another guild but here i am today._ _I will write more Tomorrow. I can't feel my brain working anymore and Capricorn will not be happy if i don't get enough sleep._

 _I miss you, mama._

 _Like always, I wish you were here to guide me and help me grow._

 _I love you._

 _yours_

 _Lucy._


	7. Chapter 7

The slight salty breeze caressed her face as she took a deep breath of the morning air. It was 5 am, and Lucy stretched her muscles while changing her clothes, from her pyjama shorts and loose t-shirt into a sports bra and yoga pants, Half Awake, she tied her hair into a high ponytail and stepped out on the balcony of the guest room.

The sun had yet to rise and this was her favourite time to train in the whole day. Admiring the view for a few minutes, her breath flattered seeing the sky lighten in colour and the calm waves that kissed the shore before rolling back.

Going back inside and slipping on her sports shoes she walked out of her room quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone so early in the morning and basically tiptoed towards the back porch of the house before walking towards the privet beach behind Arman house. She stood in the middle and rolled her shoulder, stretching her arms before calling out Capricorn.

During her training, her spirits had helped her learn how to summon them without their keys so that if they were taken away from them, she could still call them. Sometimes it worked when she whispered their name in her mind but sometimes she had to call them out verbally. Like right now, she had just said his name in her mind and with a golden poof, he stood before her.

"Good morning, Miss Lucy. You seem well today." He smiled at her and bowed down a little making her roll her eyes. "Moring Capricorn. You seem well like... always." she grinned at him making him chuckle and Lucy once again started stretching her legs and relaxing her muscles, waiting for him to tell her what they were going to do today.

"I believe, we should start out the day with jogging, today. Then we will meditate and expand your magic container and finally our sparring match with Leo." Capricorn lay down her the order for her and she nodded.

"Around the beach or around the city?" she asked him smiling, and started out slowly when he told her around the beach. Keeping her body straight and arms tucked firmly against her side she started building up speed and enjoyed the nature around her, aware that Capricorn was jogging beside her, but her thoughts were somewhere else this morning.

When she was in the spirit world, she had started writing her novel once again and she was almost done with it, but the problem was, usually, Levy was always there to tell her how it was or where she made a mistake. Now that she was in Bosco and Levy was in Fiore, she missed her blue-haired friend. Levy was that friend who she could fangirl with over a character or have a heated debate over books and authors, have actual intelligent conversations with.

Cana was that friend she went partying with. Clubs, discos, bars, house parties, guild parties and anywhere there was music and booze. She loved having dirty conversations with her, talking about men and dating and sex was always fun with her. She would have loved Bosco.

Her thoughts came back to her manuscripts and she was half determined to send Virgo with her script and send it to Levy but then her mind came to a stop and she almost facepalmed herself. ' _Freed!'_ She smiled a little and jumped over a rock and continued running.

' _How could i be such an idiot! I blame it on all the Pradesh men for burning my brain cells by half! Jeez, Lucy. Freed was just as good as Levy, you dummy!'_ Scolding herself, she stopped back where she started with soft pants and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

"Very Well, Miss Lucy. Now please sit down so we can start meditating." Her eyes landed on Capricorn who was shaking his head fondly at her for being lost in her thoughts once again, making her smile a little at him for knowing her so well.

Sitting on the soft sand, She looked at the skyline for a few seconds, smiling as a cool breeze soothed her heating body. Closing her eyes and keeping her shoulders straight, Lucy took in a deep breath and let it out of her mouth slowly. She knew the drill so relaxing her mind, she continued breathing through her nose and exhaling out of her mouth, forcing her busy mind to stop working and solely focusing on her senses.

She could feel the cool air surrounding her, the saltiness in the air and the sound of waves lapping around the shore. She heard the sound of leaves rustling ever so slightly and the sound of birds chirping in a distance. Her skin felt warm when the first ray of light hit her and she exhaled a slow and steady breath before concentrating on the magic surrounding her.

The light buzz of Laxus's magic as he walked around his room. The calming affection of Ever's as she slept peacefully. Bix's comforting aura always made her feel safe and Freed's magic was mingled with another which made her smirk. She felt Christoff's magic, so similar to hers yet so very powerful and bright even when he was sleeping and Vander's which made her shiver at the coldness of his magic yet the warmth of his heart, it absolutely fascinated her. Then there was Kaleb.

She didn't know how to even describe it but it was the most calming, strong, powerful aura she ever felt. His magic was so prominent that even if it was concentrated in one place, it was everywhere... That light surrounded her mind and she had to suppress a shiver that raked through her body at the warm feeling.

Taking another deep breath, she pushed her mind into reaching for her magic container and sighed when her own magic surrounded her like a blanket. As Capricorn had taught her, Slowly she pushed her magic out, not forgetting to breathe and gritted her teeth as she forced her magic container to expand, and once she was done, like every time, her magic snapped back like a rubber band and her eyes flew open, before she fell back on her back and lied their, spread like a starfish, panting for air.

This never got easy.

She looked at Capricorn through half closed eyes and gave him a thumbs up, giggling a little when he rolled his eyes at her silliness and sat up straight once again.

"You are getting good at this, Miss Lucy. We would have practised a few spells today but i am aware that you have yet to tell the people hosting you about your new abilities." Capricorn helped her on her feet as she raised her hand in front of her and nodded when she sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"It's going to be difficult explaining why the Spirit King would break two very important laws just so that I could train. Bix's family is very well informed and Arman wife was a celestial mage so I think he knows more about my magic than anyone else in the house." Sighing, she shook her head and smiled at him before waving her hand and dismissing the subject.

"Let's get the last part over with." She grinned and was about to call Loke out when he opened his own gate and pulled her into a hug, nuzzling her cheek making her giggle. He was in a tank top and lose sweatshirt, Something Lucy still found strange to see him in.

"Princess! I missed you so much! You didn't call me yesterday. I would have shown those boys who held your heart." Loke smirked at her and grinned when Lucy wrapped her arm around him as well, and before he knew what she was doing, she hooked her leg behind his and pulled hard making him fall.

Lucy laughed at his bewildered look and shook her finger in front of his face laughing. " Bad kitty." She giggled and jumped out back when he launched at her, hoping to make her fall as well only to have his face planted on the sand and more laughter from her.

Shaking her head she smiled cheekily at him, "Good morning." her mirth showed in her eyes before she yelped and hid back behind Capricorn when Loke pounced at her once again with a playful growl. Capricorn pinched his nose and sighed. This was such a daily event, he didn't even know how to deal with them anymore. Clearing his throat he stepped in front of Loke and glared at him, ignoring his little master sticking her tongue out at the Lion spirit from behind him.

"The training, Leo." His glare hardened and internally smirked when Loe nodded his head and raised his hand in surrender. He motioned Lucy to take her place and felt his lips tug upwards when she skipped towards her position, smirking at her friend.

The sun was halfway up the sky and the air around them started getting warm. Lucy took her position and looked at Loke he was playfully smirking at her before he launched forwards once again, this time with an intent to attack. His fist was aimed at her stomach, but enough training taught her to always concentrate at the opponent's body, so when Loke brought his knee up to hit her she effortlessly blocked him, Hooking her arm underneath his knee and twisted her body so she landed on his stomach, slamming his back on the ground and making him groan.

"Never should have taught you that." he wheezed and Lucy smirked but stood back up, knowing very well this fight was not over. Loke was quick on his feet and both dodged, attacked, sweat coating both of their bodies, panting for air as they landed more attacks on each other.

Lucy gritted her teeth when Loke pinned her down, one arm around her back and his legs around hers making it impossible for her to move. She tapped his hand and gasped of air when he let her go and rested her head on the sand looking at the now clear blue sky.

"We will continue his tomorrow. Take rest now, miss lucy." Capricorn helped her on her feet once again and bowed down before disappearing. She looked at Loke and sighed when the spirit raised his eyebrow at her.

"You were distracted today." Loke stood next to her and heard her sigh.

" I have read every book I own, Loke, and I still can't make out where the Keys could be." she huffed an annoyed breath and propped down on the sand once again. Sitting next to her Loke flicked her ear and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Spirit King never said they were going to be easy to find, Lucy. You can't let that distract you. You need a clear mind to figure this out, so, go get ready, eat some food and relax for a few days. Don't push yourself so much." He kissed her forehead and winked at her before disappearing back into the spirit world.

Sighing once again, she stood up and started walking towards the house when on absolute Pure instinct, she channelled her magic through her body, activating her Stardress: Sagittarius, drawing back the bow when she felt the cold magic focused in front of her. At the same time she drew back her arrow, Vander appeared in front of her.

Both looked at each other in surprise, being caught off guard and Lucy gasped before changing back in her normal clothes, staring at him with wide eyes while he looked at her with disbelief.

"How... How did you... feel me coming?" He whispered, astonished at being detected before he even made an appearance and Lucy frowned at him.

"It was your magic. You are a shadow mage and I am a Light mage... in a way. Your magic is opposite to mine, so when you concentrated it near me, mine repulsed back in instinct and I don't know... I acted without thinking." Smiling sheepishly at him, she held her hand behind her back, waiting for him to say something.

"No one has spotted me so quickly except Kaleb and Chris. That too because Kaleb can hear me and Chris knows my scent." He muttered, looking at her, amazed and frowned when she snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I am sure they knew your location because of the same reason as mine. Kaleb's magic _is_ Light, and Christoff gets his magic from the moon. They would have sensed your magic easily if you were going to attack them." Lucy started walking towards the house once again, Vander following her as he narrowed his eyes in realization.

"You mean my magic repulses theirs?" The uneasiness was clear in his Voice and she stopped to look at him and smiled kindly at him. "No, When you are going to attack them, try to scare them or sneak past them, then they know it's you. But when you fight with them, use your magic _for_ them and protect them, then your magic and their magic work better together. Bix said that Christoff liked going on Missions with you the most because when you two work together, your magic is like...Yin and Yan. Opposite and different but very powerful together. You can know they are near you too, you know. All you have to do is feel the warmth of their light." Turning around she started climbing the steps, leaving him to understand what she told him and smiled over her shoulder when he called her name before jogging to catch up to her.

"Lucy! Wait. How do you... know all of this." He was surprised at how easily she explained him his and his brothers magic to him and watched her roll her eyes once again.

"Because I read, dumbass." She giggled, stepping inside through the glass door and paused to shoo him away.

"Now stop following me. I need to take a shower." She turned around and yelped when he caught her hand and pulled her to his chest, his seriousness was out of the window and he smirked at him.

"Can i join?" Snaking his had along her waist, enjoying as she looked at him and then his lips before meeting his eyes again. Leaning on her toes, he moved closer and dipped in to kiss her only for her hand to block him and she looked at him in the eye and slowly whispered.

"No." Laughing, he let herself slip out of his hold and walked away, running upstairs, leaving behind a very still Vander.

"Damn. That's the second time she did that to you bro. You are losing your game." He heard a crackling laugh behind him and glared at Bickslow who was leaning against the door, smirking at him.

"She is a damn tease." He growled and walked up to the dining room, and sat next to Chris and glared at both him and Kaleb. The former looked at him confused while the latter ignored him.

"What did I do?" The lunar dragon asked and only got a huff and was ignored by Vander before looking at Kaleb in confusion.

"Lucy caught him before he could sneak up on her and then explained to him how we could always do that without using out actual magic." Kaleb sounded bored to his siblings but in reality, he had been as shocked at Vander was when she explained it to him with such ease and putting out the fire of doubt in his mind as soon as it started.

Thanking his fondness for getting up early, he heard her thoughts as soon as he woke up, smiling when he saw her stretch on the beach and a faint whisper in her head, _'Capricorn',_ before a goat-like spirit appeared next to her. He raised his eyebrows, impressed that she could summon spirits without a key and knew then and there only how strong she was and a new feeling stirred in his chest at how kind she was with them.

Kaleb was usually in control of his emotions, but even as he watched her disappear on her jog, he sat there on the couch in his living room and heard her thoughts clear as day. That was the first time, he got a good look inside her head and it had left him breathless.

He has seen minds of many people, some were messy, some were sorted out. Those who had better control of themselves, their mind was like shelves like Farron's or his dad, But Lucy. Her mind was like a library. Shelves and cupboard full of books. Each book held something significant. Like right now she was missing her friend and he saw the book open, vivid images of her smiling and Laughing with a blue haired girl, he learned was Levy, or dancing and partying sensually with her friend Cana, making heat pool in his lower stomach and making him gulp.

It was like he was looking at a double screen, watching her admire nature and think about her friends while seamlessly jump over a rock, He learned that Lucy's brain was so quick and fast, her ability to multitask and analyse her moves, understand other peoples magic and how easily she connected two and two together, Kaleb was speechless.

He was even more surprised when he was withdrawn from her mind and stood in front of closed doors, making him stand up and once again listen to her surface thoughts, astonished that she stopped her thinking in order to meditate.

He didn't need to learn any more to know that, Lucy Heartfilia was one of the most beautiful and intelligent woman he has ever met and for the first time in many years, he wanted to be the one to walk down to a person and ask to share pleasure with him.

He wanted to know more about her. Everything about her.

"Well, I'll be damned." Looking up at Chris, he smiled slightly and looked at his father to see a fond smile on his face before looking at Farron and whispering in his head with a secret smile on his face.

 _'Two days. That's all it took her to win his heart.'_ Smirking when Farron chuckled next to him.

' _Two days, and that's all it took her to figure Vander out. I don't know what is more impressing.'_ Chuckling as he took a sip of his tea, Kaleb nodded. Even he didn't know if she could impress them any more than that.

* * *

Once she showered off the dirt and sweat off her body, Lucy dried her hair with a towel and wore her bathrobe on, before opening her Suitcase Virgo dropped off last night and Took out her two-piece hot red bikini out, black denim shorts and a red boyfriend shirt.

Wearing her bikini first, Lucy grinned like a Cheshire cat at the image and bit her lips. The Red complimented her complecting and hair so much, Lucy absolutely loved it. She quickly wore her denim shorts and boyfriend shirt, which ended an inch below her shorts and only closed two buttons in the middle so she could see her shorts as she moved and cleavage. Instead of calling Cancer out, She combed her hair and straightened them on her own, before styling them in a half up.

Satisfied with her look, she hummed happily and put on a pair of closed converse. Smiling and picking up the bag Virgo left her, she put in her sunscreen, lacrima iPod Laxus gave her with a pair of headphones, the book she was currently reading, a pair of sandals and towels and a few rubber bands... and a comb...sunglasses and a sheet. Hopefully, she was not forgetting something. She grabbed her keys and gave both her bag and keys to Virgo and smiled at her before making her way downstairs.

It was 8:30 and Lucy hoped to check out Arman's library before Evergreen dragged her to the Beach.

Lucy Squealed and laughed when Bickslow suddenly appeared out of nowhere and picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder laughing as she hit his back. "Bix! Put me down, you damn ogre!" His stomach dug in her shoulder as his body shook from laughing and Lucy groaned when his brothers chuckle when they entered the room. She lifted her head and saw Laxus smirking at her and put her hand forward dramatically.

"Laxus! save me." trying to hold back a giggle and glared at him with no heat when he snorted and shook his head. "You're on your own, Blonde." and moved to take his seat on the table. Groaning, Lucy huffed when Bickslow finally put her down with a grin and slapped his chest before turning around dramatically and sitting next to Evergreen and Farron.

"Good morning." She smiled at the rest of them her eyes lingering on Kaleb for a second and happily filled her plate with some bacon and toast and some scrambled eggs when Freed kept a glass of Strawberry smoothie and rewarded him with a blinding smile before taking a sip and doing a happy dance in her head.

"What time are we leaving?" she turned to look at Ever who chewed on her food before answering. "11 should be good. We can check the candy store before actually going there and be there by 11:30. We'll have lunch then head to the guild later?" Satisfied by the plan, Lucy nodded her head and went back to eating quietly.

This was so different than eating with her team. Usually, all her food was gone when she woke up and her kitchen was in such a mess, she had to eat at the guild. Half of her money was spent on extra expenses that she should have been able to handle, only if her team knew what privacy meant. She looked up to grab some butter and met Kabel's eyes who looked at her with a frown and she mentally groaned.

' _I keep forgetting you can hear peoples thoughts.'_ Blushing a little she spread some butter on her toast and looked back at him.

' _You have quite an interesting mind, and usually, I don't pry into peoples privacy, Your memories, a majority of them are not... that happy.'_ He tilted his head slightly and Lucy watched as his hair shifted a little, making her admire his beauty once again. She could have been angry at him for looking at her memories, but Eric explained it to her how sometimes it was an Involuntary action.

' _I wouldn't call them bad memories. Rather irritating parts of formal friendship.'_ She took a bite of her scrambled eggs and looked at Ever when she nudged her side, blushing when half the people gave her teasing looks, except Arman who smiled at her.

"Farron, I was hoping that i could look around the library if you don't mind." She looked away from her smirking friend, ignoring Bix's knowing eyes and asked his brother politely.

"Of course, Lucy. You don't have to ask to use the Library." He smiled at her and she nodded happily.

"So can we join you two," Christoff asked, looking hopeful and frowned when both the girls replied at the same time. "Absolutely not!" shaking their heads, much to the amusement of everyone.

"Oh, come on! Please!" Vander joined his hands and looked at the girls with his best Puppy dog eyes and only got raised eyebrow in response. "No. Its girls day out, today. We don't need a bunch of testosterone driven men hanging around us." Lucy made a shooing motion making Evergreen giggle at her statement and Arman snort which he covered well with a fake cough. Kaleb had an amused smile on his face and Lucy grinned at him.

"Come on, Cosplay. We won't come near you and Ever, promise." Bix pouted a little and Lucy looked at him with narrowed eyes and leaned over the table, holding her pinky finger out and looked at him with complete seriousness, even though internally she giggled when his brothers snickered around her. "Lock the promise them." She smirked when he groaned and covered his face with one hand and linked his little finger with hers and shook her hand slightly.

Sitting back in her chair, she nodded her head and smiled when Vander whooped loudly.

* * *

"I don't know what happened to us. We were so happy, he was so gentle with me, so sweet, Lucy. I never kept him from his family, you know that. I respected him and Mira and I never asked him to leave them for me. The next thing i know is i was being blamed for not liking his sisters or wanting him all for myself." Evergreen sighed as she poured her heart out to Lucy who was listening carefully as she lied down on one of the long beach chairs next to her.

"You didn't try explaining it to him?" Lucy frowned at her and Evergreen pulled her knees to her chest and looked away from her so she wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes.

"I did. I tried so much but he just wouldn't listen. I tried to talk to him so many times and all he did was ignore me. I... I love him a lot and it hurt so bad Lucy." Ever looked back at her again and Lucy was quick on her feet, pulling her into a hug before she could say anything else.

"You know what Ever. He is the biggest dumbass i know. Probably dumber that Bickslow." Lucy smiled when Ever giggled and wiped the small tear that escaped. "You are amazing and beautiful and smarter than most people think. And you know, we are in Bosco, so let's just grab a drink and let's get dancing. We will find many hot guys here and much experienced that Elfman." Lucy wiggled here eyebrows teasingly and Evergreen giggled. Both stood up and Evergreen pulled up her dress to reveal her bronze metallic Bikini with slight Gold borders and Lucy took off her shirt and removed her shorts making Evergreen laugh out loud.

Lucy looked at her confused as she bends to pick up her shorts making her laugh harder and put her stuff in her bag before looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to answer her unasked question.

Pure mirth in her eyes, Evergreen leaned forward and whispered. "You just dropped a few jaws." she pointed behind her and Lucy turned around, raising her eyebrow at Vander who was looking at her, quite frozen in his place with a slacked jaw, happy that he was at a reasonable distance from them.

It was her turn to shocked when she saw Kaleb behind him and turned around before she started checking him out, again.

"Oh my lord, Ever. Let's just get going." She muttered, her cheeks ablaze and lead her laughing friend towards the dancing crowd. Letting her body lose, Lucy and Ever danced to the rhythm of the beat and grinned at each other before singing alongside. She had enough experience that whenever anyone caught hold of he waist, she effortlessly moved out of their hold and continued dancing.

It was almost Noon as they swayed their hips and tilted their head sensually, ignoring all their problems and dancing Fairytail style. Letting her hands run alongside her body, Lucy opened her eyes and lazily smiled at Bickslow sho was pulling Vander back and caught Kaleb's eyes over her shoulder and sighed.

Letting the music guide her, she finally hooked her arm around someone's neck as their hot hands grabbed her waist and opened her eyes to stare into unfamiliar green ones. Twirling around Lucy let the stranger run his hands along her side but stepped out of his reach like a tease when he was about to touch her ass.

Both girls lost themselves to music, no idea how long they danced and finally stepped out, breathless and made their way towards the bar.

"My. This is the most fun i have had since Club Basque." Evergreen sighed and ordered a Pina Colada while Lucy ordered a classic mojito. "Oh, i remember that night very well." Lucy winked at Ever and they shared a knowing look.

It was no secret between the girls that Lucy was not a Virgin many believed her to be, after all, she spent time with Cana for God sakes. The night at Club Basque had some delicious memories in her mind.

"That was something." Hot breath whispered in her ear and Lucy sighed. As if they would keep their promise. She turned around in her seat and glared at Vander who looked at him with smouldered eyes, licking his lips and looking at her with a heavy gaze, lust clear in his eyes.

Another body moved closer to her, and she didn't have to turn to know who it was when her skin tingled as his fingers brushed against her hand and shivered in delight when Kaleb shared expressions with his younger brother making her mouth turn dry.

His lips suddenly seemed fuller and his pale lavender eyes were a shade darker, his hair ties in a messy man bun, sweat glistening on his tanned skin and Lucy suddenly realised that he was without a shirt making her heart skip a beat. She saw him lift her drink to his lips and damn if that was not hot, Lucy didn't know what was.

"That was not nice." She whispered, taking her glass back from him, shivering as their hands brushed each other again.

"You were not nice too." Kaleb's lips tugged from one side and Lucy was short of breath. This man was so beautiful, she was afraid that she was going to jump him at any moment.

 _'I won't mind if you do.'_ Smirking at her, Lucy had to force her eyes away from him.

 _'Stars above...'_ getting up from her seat, Lucy blinked a few times and cleared her throat.

"I am... going to take a dip." her body heat rose a couple of degrees and as she walked away, his eyes left a trail along her body.

What was happening to her!?


	8. Chapter 8

_**Before anyone expresses their opinion, I took the last bit from the episode where Lucy was invisible for a day. Rest, please feel free to point out where i was wrong.**_

* * *

Arriving back at the guild, Lucy took solitude in the guild library and went straight to the corner where she hoped no one would disturb her. Lucy equipped the books from the Celestial realm and lay them on the table in front of her and took her notes and pen, concentrating on everything the text had to offer.

Once her training was over, Lucy was taken to The Spirit King and had received welcoming smiles from everyone around her and had gasped when Stash-face had told her to turn around and touched her back with his fingers slightly and she felt magic course through her entire body.

It took her a few minutes before she could breathe again, her skin was glowing like his did when he ever came to the human world. She heard from Loke and rest for spirits that her eyes had turned golden in colour when that had happened.

" _As Ruler of the Celestial world and every being in this realm, I give you, Lucy Jude Hearfilia the statues of_ _Siderum Custos, gifting you with the power to protect and guide spirits and connect the mortal world with our's, beginning your quest to find the Ancient keys to help you maintain order and binding you to your new powers."_

That was the moment Lucy had realised just how powerful Celestial magic actually was.

She couldn't forget how proud her spirits had been during the whole thing. She hoped that Aquarius was just as proud of her.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she went over every text again. The keys were hidden for centuries, there must be something that gave up their location or someone. Biting her lip, she was re-reading through the journal of an ancient Celestial mage and only looked away from her Com lit on the table making her grin and carefully keep the book on the table and answer it.

"You mother ducking bitch." A slurry tone in her sober voice was enough to make her giggle. "Where the fuck have you been? I tried to call you for like a month and then I called everyone! No one knew where you were so I asked Laxus and all he told me was that you were safe! Do you know how worried I was!?" Lucy cringed at the scolding and whined, " I am sorry! Everything happened so quickly I didn't have time to tell anyone." Pouting a little and using her best puppy dog expression, causing Cana to sigh and shake her head with a fond smile.

"Where are you?" Seeing her shift a little, Lucy saw the bandage on her stomach and frowned before answering the question she asked. " I am in Bosco, with the Raijinshu, Joined White Sea yesterday. What happened to your stomach?" Concern leaked through her voice and she sits on the chair in front of the com, frowning at her.

"Just got back from a mission. Got stabbed by a rock, otherwise, I am cool." Giving her a peace sign, Cana grinned through the screen and Lucy returned her smile though she still concerned over her friend.

"So... Hot men in Bosco? You must be having a party without me." Giggling at her silliness, Lucy shook her head and smiled.

"I am a mortal walking in the land of Gods, Cana." A dreamy sigh added with dramatically fanning her face was enough to make her friend laugh, which was followed by a groan.

"Damn it, Lucy! Stop making me laugh. My stomach hurts." Cana put her hand on her bandage and bent over but her smile stayed in place easing some of Lucy's growing concern. She looked up when someone knocked on one of the bookshelves and smiled at Christoff, holding her finger up and looking back at Cana.

"I will be back in Fiore next month so we have to meet up. got it?" She gathered her books before the dragon slayer could snoop around and smiled at him when he sat in front of her. "Yeah, sure thing. But you know, I have to ask, What was the thing about you being at the palace?" Taking a swing from her bottle she pointed it towards her and Lucy shook her head.

"I will tell you about it when we meet, alright?" She didn't have to look at Chris to tell he was intrigued by the question as well. "Listen, I gotta run. I will call you tonight."

"All right girl. Go get some dick!" She cracked up at the blonde, who was so used to her friend and just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I will do that and you take care of your self." Grinning at her friend, her eyes watered when Cana lifted her hand up, thumb and index finger out, just like they all did and her lips quivered before she raised hers as well and bit her lip when Cana cut the line. Wiping her eyes, she blinked her eyes and remembered that Christoff was in front of her and she looked at him, smiling at his concern and waved her hand and whispered, 'Fairytail hand sign'

"So, you needed something?" She cleared her throat and waited for him to tell her why he was here.

"Your last partner was a dragon slayer?" Lucy felt that that was not the question but answered anyways.

"Yeah. Natsu is a Fire Dragonslayer." She smiled at the memory of the goofy friend and stood up, touching the books and watching them return to the Celestial library and look at him, itching to ask the question on her mind.

"Did... Did you dragon disappear too, when the other's did?" asking in a pensive tone, she waits for him to get up and slowly they walk out of the library.

"No. Nurem left to hide from Acnalogia, actually. I was two years old when dad adopted me and Nurem was with me till i was twelve. She is a Lunar dragon... Obviously." Nervously laughing, Chris walked a little closer to her making his dragon rumble in approval.

"I remember when I first met Natsu, I treated him for lunch for saving me form a love spell." Laughing at the memory, she shook her head and giggled as she told him the whole story.

" He was looking for his dad and asked me if i have seen him. I asked him what he looked like and you know what he said? ... oh god..." Giggling Lucy had to press her hand to her mouth to stop herself, amusing Chris as he watched her bend over and took a breath.

"He said he was hard to miss because he was a dragon." chuckling along with Chris she tugged his shirt and looked at him with a knowing look.

"So what did you actually come to talk to me about?" one hand on her hip and other still holding his shirt she waiting for him to answer and facepalm himself. "Shit. I forgot! Kaleb wants you in his office." He pushed her hurriedly towards the stairs and Lucy stuttered trying to say something. the sentence 'wants you in his office' was so innocent yet her dirty mind was playing games with her right now and especially after this afternoon.

Christoff stopped pushing her midway and halted. He looked at the door at the end of the hall and tugged her arm, "He told me to bring you in privet living room." and was followed by a sighing Lucy, who frowned at the sudden demand to be seen by the guild master.

Her frown deepened when Christoff opened the door and see saw Arman and Farron already sitting there. Arman got up and held her hand gently in his and guided her to sit on the sofa chair next to Kaleb who maintained eye contact until she looked away.

' _I feel like I am in trouble.'_ She mused and crossed her legs elegantly, her father would be proud that she was still mannered and had class even after being in a guild. Rolling her eyes, Lucy fixed her shirt and looked at them curiously.

"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" She smiled an unsure smile, so used to the scolding her previous team go for the massive destruction that followed every mission.

"Of course not dear. We are waiting for Bix and Raijinshu so we can finish some final documents and discuss a few things." Arman assured her and she relaxed and sat back in her chair. Kaleb was busy on his tablet and Arman and Farron talked in hushed whispers and Lucy waited for her friends.

Virgo's key let up against her belt as she heard her voice in her head. ' _Princess, I managed to obtain the papers you asked me to. Crux is looking at them right now. Anything else?'_ Looking down at her hands she frowned, thinking if she had everything she needed before answering back.

' _Thank you, Virgo. I will call you out if I do.'_ She ran her hand through her hair and sighed, the number of things she was working on at the moment was overwhelming her a bit. Looking up when the door opened, her eyes first went on Freed who looked like he was slightly pissed off but soon masked his expression when he entered the room. She was going to ask him later what that was about.

Laxus nodded at her and Bix held his hand up for a high five which she gave him and watched him sit on the sofa next to Kaleb, smirking at her and she narrowed her eyes at him. Ever sat on the armrest on her chair and she grinned at her, almost wanting to squeal when Farron kissed Freed and pulled him to sit next to him. So freaking cute!

Kaleb cleared his throat and Lucy looked at him, away from the couple and felt Ever's hand on her back patting her before she leaned down and whispered, "We need to talk later." Lucy nodded her head, no point saying or whispering anything since everyone could hear them easily.

"We need to discuss permanent accommodations and a few things regarding teams. Your group can still be the Raijinshu and you can still go on missions together, but every month, you will be assigned a partner for a mission or a team so you are familiar with other people and their magic." Kaleb explained to them the ground rules, waiting to see if they had any questions and continued when they all nodded.

" Bickslow, Laxus and Freed are quite familiar with the Boscan culture but the ladies will have to take up classes with the Sudehpah to learn more." His lavender eyes landed on Lucy who was listening to him carefully and he could say that whoever got to teach her was going to be lucky.

"Yeah, we can't have Virgins in this house." Another voice joined the conversation from the door and everyone looked up to see him smirking at Lucy sho raised her eyebrow and smirked back.

"Who said anything about being a virgin?" She heard Ever titter next to him, Laxus blanch and Bickslow laugh while the others looked at her with a smile on their face. "What.. What the shit, Blonde?!" Laxus pointed a finger at her and Lucy glared at him.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Laxus Dreyar. Raise a finger at me when you can say you didn't go fucking girls everywhere you went and you still don't. And anyway, I am an adult, you don't decide if i can have sex or not. _And_ For god sakes! I am Cana's best friend!" A shiver went through the dragon slayers eyes at her calm tone but Laxus knew it so well, he knew it was time shut up if he didn't want to face scary Lucy.

"I Don't need a lesson when it comes to sex, but i am willing to learn more since i am in Bosco." Folding her arms she looked back at Vander and smirked. " Btw, The way i have seen it, it seems like you are the virgin in the house." Lucy maintained eye contact when Vander's jaw dropped and Bickslow shouted Burn making the others laugh.

"Ahem... Yes, Like I was saying... your lessons will start next week from Monday." Kaleb was having a hard time trying not to chuckle and he put his hand on his face, acting like he was rubbing his upper lip area but he was trying not to show his smile at the little spitfire.

"The rest concerns Lucy only so the rest of you can go." He pulled out papers from the file in front of him and when no one moved he looked at them questioningly. "Well... we are here, so might as well sit through it." Evergreen fanned her face and put one arm on Lucy's shoulder.

"Okay..." Kaleb licked his lip as he gave Lucy the file, purposely dragging his finger against her hand and watched her look at him from under her lashes and smiled.

She sat back and opened the file, reading while listening to Kaleb.

"Since you are part of White sea, we give every mage an option to take up apartment at the guild itself until you feel the need to move out or we present you with options where you can get an apartment on rent. The rent is minimal at the guild, the standard fee for staying but separate tabs for extra expenses." Kaleb watched her mind and mentally smiles as she understood everything he said but didn't stop reading once.

" Thane can show you the apartment tomorrow morning and you can decide then." He handed her another file which she put down in her lap, opening it when she finished the first one.

"Bank papers?" looking up at him confused and Farron interjected.

"Allow me to explain." He was mainly looking at Kaleb to tease him but didn't want to miss an opportunity to talk to Lucy. She was quite refreshing for the whole family.

"White Sea has its own banks because we have so many mages and so many branches that its easier to transfer funds here than at public banks and they have incentives for mages especially. So we wanted to give you another option if you settle for transferring banks from Fiore to Bosco."

Once again Lucy listened carefully and read through all the terms and conditions, features, account details and hmmed mentally at the loan section for startup mages.

"Alright. I will give you my bank paper copies to fill out the detail and you can handle the rest. I would like to see the apartment tomorrow but i will make a decision after i have seen other places as well." She gave Kaleb back the files and pulled out Virgo's key.

"Virgo." She softly called out for her and smiled when her spirit summoned in front of her.

"Punishment Princess?" Virgo asked her with no expression on her face but Lucy spent a year with them to know how amusing she found it to watch her blush, which she was when everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows who didn't know Virgo.

"No, Virgo. Please get me my bank documents and give them to Master Kaleb." She pointed her finger at him and Virgo looks at him sideways before disappearing.

"Punishment?" Christoff asked her with a hint of edge in his voice and Bix decided to answer it for her.

" She is just joking Chris." His eyes had a meaningful look to it and Lucy still wanted to clear it for him so that he didn't feel uncomfortable about it.

"Every one of my spirits has their own personality. Virgo has a nick for punishment, but I have never and I will never hurt any of my spirits intentionally." Her sentence sounded like a promise, something she has always made to herself.

Virgo came back at the same moment and gave a hardcover file to Kaleb who raised his eyebrows at it, before bowing down and disappearing back to the spirit world.

Bickslow looked over Kaleb's shoulder to see the figures she had in her bank and his eyes almost popped out.

"Holy shit, Lucy! How come you complained about money when you have so many investments and stocks in your bank!" He tried to grab the file out of his brother's hand but Kaleb put his hand on Bix's face and pushed him back gently.

"Honestly, Bickslow. Sometimes i think you forget that i was born to be an heiress. It would be obvious that i know the importance of investments and stocks. And anyway, my father always told me not to break long-term investments for personal expenses. I complained about money because it should never have been a problem in the first place." Lucy huffed and crossed her arms, blanching slightly when Ever and Laxus walked over behind Kaleb's shoulder and peeked over.

"Damn, Lucy!" Laxus whistled and without thinking she leaned over and closed the file in Kalbe's lap and blushed. " Stooop!" She took it away from him and hugged it to her chest, amusing everyone.

"I need those, Lucy." Kaleb smiled at her and she hesitated before pouting. "You can take it later." She tucked it beside her and looked back up towards Kaleb who had a soft look on his face, she was swooning.

"Alright. Now that official stuff is done, Would you mind joining me in my office for a moment my dear?" Arman stood up and Lucy quickly followed before Kaleb cleared his throat and she blushed. She gave him her file once again and followed his dad, confused why Freed and Farron were following.

Arman opened the door for her and she thanked him and ambled towards the chair in front of his desk. Freed sat decides her and Farron leaned against the desk, while Arman sat in his chair and pulled out a letter.

"This came from the Magic Council in Fiore, today. It was addressed to Laxus but Freed didn't want to give it to him just yet. Why don't you take a look at it?" Arman words were a little serious so Lucy took the letter from him and looked at Freed who nodded his head and she opened the letter, her eyes reading every word carefully as a frown set on her face and she scoffed.

"This is bullshit!" She waved the letter in front of her and growled looking at it as her friend nodded his head. "My thoughts exactly. We know how paperwork is done or what to do when someone destroyed anything... but Master handled this stuff. I know this is wrong but I am not sure how to deal with it." He sighed and Farron rubbed his arm, Lucy didn't even notice him walk closer to Freed.

"Oh don't worry about this." She stood up, glaring at the offending piece of paper in her hand and growled, "I will take care of this." She missed the look of amazement and wonder on Farrons and Arman's face or the shiver that went down Freed's back as she marched out of the office.

"Oh dear. I think that we just let out Scary Lucy." He whispered, confusing his promised and his dad.

* * *

Lucy didn't even waste time and stomped towards Kaleb's office ad Knocked on his door. She sent a forced smile at Thane's way and looked at Kaleb who had stopped what he was doing... which was going through her bank papers and was waiting for her to say whatever she had in her mind.

He cursed his hormones for kicking in the moment she entered the room, anger clear in her eyes and Kaleb wasn't sure if he did anything to make her mad, but his instincts warned him that being on her wrong side was not going to be okay.

"Is there anything i can help you with?" he tried to calm her down with his voice but she looked at the computer on his table and nodded. "May i please use your Computer? It's urgent." her voice had that edge to it and it made her look so hot, Kaleb just nodded his head and got off his chair, motioning her to take the seat.

She passed him and her thoughts were more clear now that he was not concentrating on the problem in his pants. ' _If i don't destroy them, My name is not Lucy Hearfilia!'_ Her glare was directed at the paper and he put one arm on the back of his chair and other on the table trapping her in a way that he was not in her personal space but close enough that she stopped her mental rant to look at him.

Lucy felt the air shift and her hair on the back of her neck stood up when Kaleb moved in closer. She saw him reading the letter on his desk and she turned, getting back to drafting her own response.

The magic council had decided that since FairyTail was dissolved and Master Makarov was nowhere to be found they could send Laxus a letter asking him to pay for the damage Fairytail had done during Tartaros. She felt her blood boil at the audacity the council had to ask them for money and typed a short but detailed fuck you letter to them and printed it out. Kaleb made a noise at the back of his throat and frowned.

"Is it wise to send that letter to a magic council." He offered his hand to Lucy and enjoyed the softness of her hand when she places it in him.

Collecting the paper Lucy snorted and laughed, but it kind of had a ring to it that made Kaleb shiver. "Oh, don't worry about them. The letter was signed by Captain Lahar and If the call me in Fiore to give them an answer then i damn well will." Her eyes narrowed down with such heat in them Kaleb was once again amazed by her. Her ability to become serious at the right time and always having an answer for everything was something he was starting to love.

She stopped before she could leave his office and looked back at him with a smile a meek smile at him.

"Sorry about just barging in. I didn't mean to let my anger get the best of me." she moved in closer and Kaleb waited to see what she was going to do but he was not expecting her to kiss him on his cheek, so close to his lips he almost turned to capture those teasing lips with his. Taking a deep breath he watched her smile at him and take a step back, her cheeks red and she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Thank you." She turned around before he could say anything and rushed out of his office leaving him still as a statue.

* * *

Lucy walked along the beach shore, enjoying the water roll on her feet. She looked up at the stars and smiled when Aquarius's shone down at her. She always thought that the next brightest star next to Aquarius was her mother, in her eye.

When she was a kid, Lucy would sneak out to lie down in a garden and stare at the sky until one of the helpers noticed her. She would point out the stars to herself while she hugged her keys to her chest. When her father was not home she would spend hours reading books on astrology and story of every spirit and that was when Lucy found out that every celestial mage has their own journal.

When she was twelve, she found her mother's and Lucy spend days reading and re-reading the dairy, living in her mother's world a while longer before her father took them away from her.

She was fourteen when she had her first encounter with another celestial mage. That was the day Lucy had felt hot rage coursed through her veins at how he treated them and was quick to challenge him, winning over his silver keys, Lyra and Crux.

She remembers herself as a timid child, who rarely spoke and that to answer questions someone asked her, to answer barbs with wit and intelligence her father taught her, to understand politics and business and shutting up any male who thought women were useless and not educated enough to understand their discussions.

And then she came to FairyTail. She didn't have to play by the rules but adjusting to a new world was difficult for her but she managed without help. She tried to be calm and collected around her friends but with every new day, every new expense, every mission became harder for her. Should she train or should she earn?

How she was going to pay her rent and the damage cost because of Natsu and Grey?

How was she going to become stronger when she didn't have the time of the day for herself. Between cleaning the usual mess, worrying about her rent, taking at least 10 missions a month and working at the guild to pay off guild tabs, she bore the remarks about her always complaining about money. She ignored her friends calling her blonde terror for being mad at Natsu for destroying her house once again or at happy for ruining her furniture, going through her clothes, inviting themselves to sleep in her bed or casually walk inside when she was taking a bath.

yeah. sure. She was a blonde terror for that.

She was always angry, or not _delicate_ like Levy, strong like Erza and Mira, sweet like Wendy or Laki, sophisticated like Ever, or open flirt like Cana. She was just Lucy. Who loved to complain about money, ignore how her teammates were the reason she did.

She loved crying over burnt manuscripts, how does it matter, she can write them again.

She will never get a boyfriend because she was so mean to people. That one had hurt her a bit.

She grew up in a household where she didn't have the liberty to chose her own dress and the moment she ran away, she had her life pictured in front of her. She had dreamed for so long to marry for love, to have a boyfriend one day and just fall in love and not be sold off like an auction doll.

But then, her teammates decided that she can't hang out with people she didn't know. Richard, a developing lawyer was a no from Grey because he didn't think he was worth his _sister._ Frank was just looking forward to getting in her pants according to Erza and Lucy should not have sex until she is married. _Yeah Right!_ Like you didn't jump Jellal's bone the moment you saw him pardoned officially.

And Natsu. Where should she even start? Buring restaurants and making her pay for the damage. Actually liking a guy, finally, only to have her heart broken when Natsu told her he got _rid_ of him or all the times him and Happy embarrassed her in front of them making her angry.

And how does that end for her?

Of course. The Blonde Terror.

Lucy sighed and sat down on the sand, her head on her knees and she just stared at the water. She didn't know where the thoughts were coming from. Maybe she is finally realising how toxic the whole thing was for her. At this moment her happy memories at Fairytail were overweighed by the sad ones.

It made her think. ' _Did I ever fit in?'_ And she couldn't think of an answer because did she? Or was she always the outsider?

"Lucy?" A gruff voice filled with concern made her look up and she smiled at Laxus, even if it was forced, she could pretend she was okay. Laxus didn't wait a moment and sat down next to her, both blondes silent for a few minutes, staring at the water.

"What's wrong? I know it's not about the letter." She felt her heart stutter at the worry lacing his words but didn't look away from the water.

"I just feel like... I don't know where i belong." She whispered as if afraid someone was going to hear her and hugged her knees closer to her chest, not looking at him and continued. "I don't understand why you guys call me the Light of Fairytail because, in all honesty, it's just you who call me that."

"I have done nothing for the guild, Laxus. I didn't win battles, I didn't save people as you guys did. The only thing i was good at was getting kidnapped and then be rescued." She rolled her eyes and sighed, wanting to pull her hair out.

"Lucy..." Laxus didn't continue and Lucy was sure he was going to agree with her but she squealed when he hit her leg with his lightning making her groan and glare at him but he was already doing that.

"I don't understand how you can go from being so happy to so depressed in one day. Yeah sure, you were not strong, but you are wrong about saving people." He pulled her closer and draped his hand over her shoulder.

"You saved you spirits from people, Lucy. And for the record, you are like buddy with the King of the Celestial realm, Crowned princess of Fiore. You don't have to be strong physically only, you know that. What your team and the others at the guild didn't realise, except a few, is that you are damn right scary when you start using your brain. Hell, sometimes i fear if you decided to take over the world, you would!" Laxus chuckled when Lucy giggled and hugged him tightly before smiling at him.

"If I didn't know you were a teddy bear, i would have thought someone took over your body." She laughed when he growled at her and got up to run when he tried to catch her.

She knew he was not making any effort to actually catch her and her sadness was out of the window.

Seriously Lucy, stop doubting yourself.

* * *

Kaleb Vander and Christoff watched the two blondes run on the beach, each one fighting the irritation and rage they felt.

Kaleb had first pointed out Lucy was missing after dinner and he had walked out on the porch to look for her when her thoughts hit him like a wave he had frowned at the sadness in them. He linked with Vander and Chris when they asked what was wrong and no one was happy with what they learned.

He wanted to walk down to her and shake her and ask how could she think so less about herself. He knew that she was sad, but Kaleb never thought her insecurities and pain was related to something she loved. He narrowed his eyes, now understanding why his brother, Laxus had given such a reaction looking at her bank statement.

"I feel my respect for her team decreasing with every day," Vander muttered looking at her with concern and he nodded.

"She has always wanted acceptance in her life and that is the one thing she struggles with the most. Her memories... they show her talking to everyone yet never sharing something more than basic with them." he watched her with growing concern.

Christoff growled when her thoughts shifted to dating and damages and both Vander and Kaleb clenched their jaw.

If anything, they decided to make sure Lucy was going to be fine, to trust them.

And Kaleb was going to have a talk with Bix about it.


	9. Chapter 9

It took her a week to settle in, in the apartment at white Sea. Evergreen Convinced her that it was the best option and she would be her neighbour and they could spend time together. Laxus and Bickslow also had their apartment at white sea, but Laxus was thinking about buying his own place here so maybe that was temporary.

For a week, Lucy had trained, spent time with people at the guild and quickly fell in love with the people there. She got to know the Pradesh siblings better and it melted her heart at how sweet they all were. Arman had tried to make her stay at his house but Lucy had politely refused and told him she can't take advantage of his hospitality.

She went on her first mission with Raijinshu and they got to see her in action for the first time with her new skills and powers. With each day, Lucy started to notice how... free she felt. She couldn't explain the feeling but coming to Bosco so far, was the best decision for her. She had requested Kaleb to let her be a Solo mage for a while and Laxus and the rest had encouraged her to do so. It was something else to be able to do things on your own, defeat monsters on your own, earn money for something you put the effort in and Lucy felt free.

She knows her team was hard to handle sometimes, but when she really needed the rent money, they always let her take the whole reward or what was left of it.

Right now, at 8:00 am she was enjoying her cup of tea and going through the last chapter of her book, looking of errors or things to correct before she could give it to Freed to read and tell her how it is. Looking around the apartment, Lucy felt like this place was really a snatch for the rent they paid.

It was a one bedroom apartment, with joined bathroom, a modern spacious kitchen, well-sized living room and a closet room on its own. Her bedroom was creamy beige in colour with white marble floor throughout the apartment, a queen size bed in the middle of her room, her dresser table, fluffy tan brown colour carpet she loved to sit on.

The living room already had furniture in it and Lucy loved it. It was a white leather couch which literally was so comfortable, Lucy was tempted to sleep there the first night. Her desk was set in front of the window which gave her the view of the guild backyard and the overview of the sea. She had yet to eat food, especially breakfast at the guild because she cooked her own breakfast every morning and Lucy was in heaven.

She tried to pay more to Kaleb for the furniture but he refused to take her money which annoyed her because no way in hell was this whole apartment for just 60,000 Jewels a month! Her last apartment was 70,000 and that is nothing compared to where she was living now.

The only thing that made her sad was she couldn't go train on the beach early morning but once she saw the gym, she was more than fine with the substitute.

She got up to make herself breakfast and rolled her eyes, knowing that Laxus and Bickslow where going to be here in a few minutes. They didn't hog all the food for themselves, instead hey brought her the grocery every day so that was perfectly fine with her.

She started with the bacon and made a whole plate full, her stomach grumbling at the smell and she chewed one as she made some cheesy scrambled eggs, Cut out some strawberry, apples, banana, pineapples and divided them in five bowls and kept them in her fridge in the meantime and continued making some sausages, knowing Freed loved them and turned on her coffee machine.

She put out plates and the food on her table and smiled when the doorbell rang. Opening her door, she chuckled under her breath at the grumpy Laxus who went straight for the coffee and squealed when she saw Bickslows babies, hugging them close to her chest, giggling at the chirped happily.

"Good morning to you to Cheerleader." Bickslow bumped her shoulder and Lucy smiled at him. "Morning, Bix." she followed him to the kitchen and smiled as Poppo nuzzled her cheek. Evergreen and Freed came in a few minutes later, fixing themselves some coffee before filling their plate with food and thanking Lucy as she gave them their fruit bowls and sat down to eat as well. Lucy smiled as they took their time to get up from the sleepy haze and quietly read the newspaper while eating.

This was such a normal thing these days, she felt so happy to have people sit with her and have something so simple as a breakfast.

"Freed... I was wondering if you could do me a favour." Lucy smiled timidly and put her fork down when he looked at her. When he focused his attention on her, curious, Lucy grinned and got up to get her manuscript and handed it to Freed who was gaping at her and gasped.

"You... You finished it? Do I get to read it? The whole thing?" He looked at the one story he was dying to read and he literally had stars in his eyes, Lucy giggled.

"Yeah. I want an honest answer though. If its crap, tell me please, okay?" She smiled at him and chuckled as he continued staring at the papers in his hand.

"I think you broke him Blonde," Laxus smirked at his teammate and grinned at her when she laughed.

Lucy prayed that this happiness is never taken away from her.

* * *

Halfway through the morning once she had cleaned up her apartment, Lucy joined Evergreen downstairs at the guild and waved happily as people greeted her. She spotted her sitting next to Bix and Vander and bee-lined towards them, with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, Vander." She plopped next to Ever and ordered a Strawberry smoothie, amusing her friends at her obsession with the drink. She wore a cream t-shirt dress and strap sandal heels, complimenting her legs.

"Morning Starfire." he grinned at the name when Lucy rolled her eyes. She was so used to these Nicknames everyone gave her, she didn't have the energy to argue with them over it.

"What's happening today?" Asking Evergreen, she took a soothing sip from her smoothie but refrained from making any noise this time at the flavour of this creamy goodness.

"Well, Emzadi is coming back today so we get to meet Bickslow's sister. Other than that, I have no agenda today." Ever tapped her finger on the table and ran her hand through her hair and Lucy had to admit, without glasses she looked so different. It was not like Ever had bad eyesight, it was that with her glasses on people at Fairytail felt more comfortable around her, which was stupid in her opinion.

"I was thinking maybe we can go and check out the magic shop in town and see if they have keys for me." She pushed her smoothie towards Bix who held his hand out with a pout on his face. Ever nodded her head and smiled, "Sure. We can visit the salon next."

Vander tuned their conversation out when a girl came towards him and dragged her finger on his chest. "Do you want to share pleasure with me?" He looked at her once and grinned and purred. "Lead the way, beautiful." leaving behind an amused FairyTail group.

Lucy paid for her drink and both girls said their byes to Bix and strolled out of the guild, into the city, talking and gossiping about anything and everything. She remembers Evergreen asking her if she could help her in finding her keys and was happy that she was interested in her quest, even though her hunt for the keys was going rather fruitless but she knew she needed to be patient.

They went to the magic shop first but unluckily for Lucy, they didn't have keys, though there was a new book on astrology she bought.

"Yeah, Cana is quite pissed at Gildarts right now. He left without a word and she told me the next time she saw him, she was going to kick him so hard, they will see who the crash mage is." Lucy chuckled at the last bit, while both the girls got their nails done. She thought back to the time when her father refused to let her grow her nails because only hooligans and people with no class did. She was just making sure to do everything her father told her not to.

"I still can't believe sometimes that Fairytail is gone." Ever sighed but it turned into a smile as she admired her nails. Lucy just nodded her head but didn't say anything about that. She didn't want to think about it at all.

Both the ladies paid for their nails and grinned looking at them. They both had long nails, not long to make their hands look ugly but long enough to make it look classy. Lucy had gone for a classic nude pink tone while Evergreen went with a tropical greenish blue shade. They shopped for a few hours for clothes and shoes, fascinated by the jewellery and more books for Lucy.

"So the classes with the sudehpah start tomorrow and honestly, i don't know what to expect." Crinkling her nose, Ever chuckled and Lucy grinned over her coffee cup, both chatting in the cafe near the guild.

"Freed told me that it gets really _interesting_ if you know what i mean." she wiggled her eyebrows and laughed when Evergreen blushed a little.

"I can't believe i am about to say this, but i am looking forward to it." Ever's blush deepened and Lucy giggled at her shyness.

"I am looking forward to it, too," she smirked and thought about what all she was going to learn, other than sex also. "Can you believe Erza's reaction?" She smirked and bit her lip when Evergreen almost choked on her coffee and snorted, laughing loudly and kept her cup on the table, she was shaking so much with laughter.

"How could you! You were a median and now you have fallen! I will revenge you honour" Waving her spoon in the air Lucy imitated Erza's reaction, bubbling out more laugh from Ever. Both giggled and Ever had to wipe her eyes as she tried to calm down.

"There you ladies are!" the familiar baritone made the ladies look to their side and smiled at Chris who had just entered the shop looking for them. Lucy touched Horologium's key and was kind of surprised that it was already 6:30. They were out for such a long time and didn't even notice.

"Come on. Dad wants you to meet Emzadi but I think he is just looking for reasons to invite you over now." Chris Offered both of them their hand and enjoyed when Lucy chuckled. In the last week, her family got to know her better and their liking for the blonde only increased. She was really kind-hearted towards her Spirits and friends, witty and intelligent and that alone was enough for her to win his father's, Farron's and Kaleb's heart and her teasing nature and pranks, jokes and sense of humour made her Vander's and Bix's prank partner and even Chris couldn't wait to see what Emzadi would think about her.

He Moonjumped both of them to his house, laughing when the wobbled on their feet and guided them inside.

Arman was the first to greet them and he grinned at the celestial mage and quickly hugged her. "It's good to see you, my dear." Smiling at her brightly, Lucy felt the warmth of his greeting settle in her heart and she sort of choked up on the emotions.

"Its just been a week Arman." She laughed and looked at him with a fond smile on her face, though her eyes looked at him teasingly. Like always, they walked in the living room and Lucy saw Kaleb first and had to look away before Ever could tease her more. She felt his eyes on her but refused to look at him and shifted towards the unknown person in the room. Her back was towards her but she was definitely taller than her with waist length blonde hair and the moment she turned around Lucy's brown eyes met her orange and she tilted her head slightly wondering if they had to do something to turn out this beautiful like take a dip in some holy water or something.

She saw Emzadi analyse her like she was before she walked until in front of her and Lucy couldn't stop herself from commenting.

"Oh wow, I feel like an elf living between giants." She smiled when people around her chuckled and it made her happy when Emzadi smirked. Lifting her hand for a handshake, Lucy grinned when she took it and introduced her self. "I am Lucy."

"Emzadi." her voice was smooth and Lucy was not even surprised at this point. If one of them suddenly had wings and was flying towards heaven, even then she wouldn't be surprised.

"You are a dragon slayer." She started feeling the bond form already and stepped back before it could activate. Emzadi looked at her confused then looked at her hand and frowned.

"I am. A solar dragon slayer. You are a celestial mage." Her lips were slightly parted and Lucy saw the fangs and grinned, nodding her head. She felt Laxus stand right behind her and rolled her eyes.

Dragons were hoarders, that's a common fact, but their possessiveness towards their mate, children and kin was something not to be messed with. Usually, every dragon felt the need to mark its hoard with its scent, so that when another dragon tried to claim with is theirs, they know it was a warning sign. Like Gajeel pierced her upper ear, giving her a pair of earring made out of his iron that never lost his scent. Wendy shared a mark with her like Laxus, Erik and Chris. So if Lucy felt the potential bond, so did they, that's why Laxus was narrowing his eyes at her at prime instincts.

Emzadi was raised with Chris and Nurem so she knew what was happening and bared her teeth at Laxus when he pulled Lucy behind her. Even Chris was tense but he didn't want to choose between his sister and Kin so he stood back.

Clearing her throat, Arman raised his eyebrows at them and Lucy answered before the other two could say anything.

"It's alright, Arman. Being a Kin to five dragons attracts the attention of others. Emzadi's dragon is curious as to why other dragons trust me as they do and just like Chris, her magic is star-based so the connection is immediate. But since we don't know each other, i think its best that she gets to decide on her own if she wants me as her kin than to answer to her dragon's curiosity." Lucy patter the lighting dragons back so casually as she explained it, it made Vander and Bix chuckle at her.

Emzadi, however, stopped snarling at the lightning dragon and listened to what Lucy was saying and blinked before controlling her dragon to stop. She looked at Chris who smiled at her unsure and then at Kaleb who was looking at the blonde with a fond expression, she had to take a double take at him.

"My life is never dull." she heard her say to Evergreen who stood by her and smiled. She didn't know Lucy yet but it made her as curious as her dragon to know what was so special about her.

* * *

Lucy and Ever excused themselves, wanting to clean up before dinner and went to their previous rooms. A few moments later, when Lucy returned downstairs, she sat on the dining chair, and had to bit her lip, hoping she won't blush when Kaleb sat next to her, pulling his chair close enough so their arms were touching.

"Hey." He smiled at her and Lucy couldn't help the pink tint in her cheeks. She looked at him, knowing everyone was looking at them and smiled politely. "Hi." Her voice was near whispers but dear Mavis help her, she felt so strange around him, it was driving her mad.

Kaleb smirked at her and Lucy looked away from him once again. 'Damn him.'

Mr Elan put up food on the table and everyone started with small servings, Farron asking Emzadi about their mission and Lucy smiled at her plate thinking how Mira used to do that when they came back and always giving them something to eat.

"Lucy..." Freed called her name and she looked at him and giggled when he pulled out her manuscript at looked at her with utter misery on his face. "Please tell me what happens next. I can't believe you left it at such a point! i want answers!" He looked so disturbed by this and desperate for an answer, Lucy was laughing at him and took the papers from his hand.

"So? Do you think i can publish this?" She breathes out, biting her lip and waiting for Freed to answer who looked at her like she was stupid. "Yes! This book is amazing! No wonder Levy was so excited when you would update." Freed grinned at her and Lucy truly felt giddy with happiness.

"I didn't know you write." Farron leaned forward, his eyes on the script in her hands and Lucy shifted in her seat shyly. "Its a hobby." She tried to stop being so happy but Freed's approval actually meant a lot to her and she couldn't wait to get the whole thing published.

"Would it be too much to ask if i said i want to read it?" He grinned at her and Lucy shook her head. "No, I don't mind. In fact, another opinion would be nice." She passed him the papers and Farron turned the pages before Arman cleared his throat. "Not on the table, son." Smiling fondly at him and Farron bashfully put it down.

The entire table looked at Laxus in curiosity when his Lacrima com lit up and Lucy grinned, but for the Raijinshu, it was not her normal grin, that was I am going to destroy you grin. "Give me that." She put her hand forward, She smiled at Laxus who raised his eyebrow at her.

"That's captain Lahar." He feared for the man when Lucy smirked and rolled her fingers, motioning him to give her the com. "I know." Her reaction was not something anyone on the table has seen, other than Kaleb when she came in his office, angry.

Everyone watched curiously as Lucy pushed her plate back and set the com on the table before answering the call. Instantly setting it to a double screen so people on the other side of the table could see him as well while Lahar only saw her, Lucy smiled at the captain.

"Captain Lahar. To what do we own the pleasure." Her posture changed automatically as she sat up straighter and Arman though he recognised it very well.

"Miss Heartfilia... I thought this was Mr Laxus's Com." The displeasure was clear on his face and Lucy grinned sweetly at him. "It is, but Laxus is busy. So what can i do for you?" Lucy tilted her head and she heard Evergreen mutter something to Bickslow. 'I feel bad for him already.'

"I am sure you can't help me, Miss Heartfilia. It is guild matters and since you are just a member, I can only relay the information to Mr Laxus." Laha pushed his glasses back and it irked him how she kept on smiling.

"You mean, this is about the letter." leaning against the table, Lucy smiled when his poised exterior cracked and he looked at her with slight anger. "Yes. I am unsure how or why Mr Drayer would share such documents with _you_ but whatever your guild does, doesn't surprise me anymore." he snarled at her, feeling his past hate for the girl rise and gritted his teeth when she laughed.

"Honestly Captain, if you thought that Laxus was going to pay a dime out of his pocket to _you_ is more surprising than me knowing about the letter." her smile turned feral and she missed how everyone at the table looked at her. "There are two ex-heirs in the guild, Captain. One would think before assuming they don't know anything about the law of the country or how the council works." Lucy shifted in her chair and looked at the screen bored, picking her nails and continued speaking.

"Furthermore, You send an official letter to an ex-member of a guild which has been dissolved, but you also broke the fundamental law that protects the leal guild in Fiore from the magic council." Glaring at him, she enjoyed his stunned face and carried on.

"You can't tell me that the Council is uneducated when it comes to basic Laws, Captain. You can't deny either that there _is a law_ under the rules and protocols for the magic council which clearly state that in case of national threat from magic beings or dark guilds, where lives of the Fiorean citizen is at stake if legal guilds intervene and save the country and its people from such ordeal, they are protected by the Royal community and magic council, not guilty of damages caused in the war between them. So, either, you don't consider Tartaros as a national crisis or if you do, FairyTail is the only guild who received that ridiculous letter where you demand _we_ pay for the damages caused." wagging her finger, Lucy directed her icy glaze at the captain who had gone white with each sentence.

"Not only did you break a serious law which guarantees the safety of any Legal guild, you used the current situation of our guild to your advantage, thinking that since Master Makarov is not present, you thought you can make Laxus pay for something we should be thanked for." Leaning back in her chair Lucy smirked and her grin was so sharked like, it sent shivers down almost everyone's spine.

"But you don't worry about the blunder you made, Captain. I already had Loke deliver the Letter to the Council Ministers as proof, along with the recording of other guild members agreeing that they actually received compensation for the mages who were hurt during the whole thing. Also, _I_ happened to be the heiress of Heartfilia Konzern, Captain, I can tell you my connection are far wide and vast than just the council of ministers, so tell me how your hearing goes." Smiling sweetly at him, Lucy chuckled at his ashen face and ended the call with a long breath.

"Well, that was fun." She smirked and gave Laxus his com. back and grinned when she saw him looked at her with wide eyes, but soon blushed, seeing it was the reaction of the majority of the people on the table.

"Remind me Starfire, not to _ever_ piss you off." Vander breaths out and Lucy just smiles at him.

Kaleb however, was really really turned on right now. He had to close his eyes and think about the most unpleasant things in his life to control himself. All through the conversation, he heard everyone's fascination match his own and he half remembered his dad thinking about making her his daughter, but gods, this woman didn't leave a day when she didn't surprise him.

"How would you like a job at the embassy." Farron looked at her with wonder in his eyes and Freed and Lucy chuckled at him. "Thank you for the offer Farron, but that was nothing." She waved her hand, talking as if it was not a big deal making Chris blanch.

"Nothing! You just dragged a Council _Captain_ through mud and threatened him! How was that nothing?!" He looked at her with new found respect, but even Arman had to admit that when Lucy smiled next and didn't answer, he was afraid of this little woman.

Scary Lucy Indeed.

* * *

Lucy huffed in frustration when she found no lead as to where the keys could be and snapped her book shut, before leaving her bedroom and wandered down to the kitchen. It was 2:30 and she was still wide awake. She poured herself a glass of water and leaned against the counter, thinking. There is a possibility that the keys relocated during those centuries of a wait, but there is no documents or news on the sightings for keys or any artefact at all.

She had been talking to Levy (Finally!) and Gajeel and after a fair share of scolding, she asked the blue haired mage for her help. It was during one of these conversations Lucy got to know the location of two of her teammates. Apparently, Erza joined Crime Sorciere with Jellal and Grey was with Juvia. Lucy had brushed it aside then, but she couldn't stop the nagging feeling in her head at how easy it was for them to not think about her.

Shaking her head, she refilled her glass and went as still as a statue when two arms trapped her between the counter and their body, making her heat up. She turned around and let out a silent gasp at how close Kaleb stood in front of her, His torso pressed against hers and his nose almost touching hers. Both of them didn't say anything for a minute, looking into each other's eyes, and for the first time, Lucy felt it. The silent tug in her heart which made her blush.

"Kaleb?" She whispered and watched his eyes droop a little and the strange noise he made at the back of his throat and when he opened his eyes again, She felt her breath leave her lungs at how dark his eyes were. She then realised that he was without his shirt and in a pair of loose silk pyjama. His abs begged to be touched and the way his muscles were tense Lucy was fighting the urge to touch his skin.

She pressed against the counter when he pressed a light kiss on her cheek and sighed against her skin, making heat pool in between her legs and her mouth turn dry. He moved a step back and Lucy wanted to protest but Kaleb smiled down at her.

"Good night, Lucy." he caressed her face and Lucy leaned into the touch, not taking her eyes off him.

"Good night," she whispered back and watched him walk away. She stood still as a statue for a couple of minutes, her mind was in literal jumbles and then the whole event registered in her mind and she gasped.

' _Oh my god! I... Oh my... What!?'_ She put her head on the counter and tried to calm her heart. ' _What was that.'_

She doesn't remember how she got to her room, but she knows she couldn't sleep for the rest of the night because every time she did her cheeks went ablaze at the delicious thoughts that ran through her mind. Finally deciding that it was fruitless trying to sleep, Lucy took a long warm shower at 3 am at night and huddled up in her blanket, settling on her bed and took out the book she bought on astronomy.

She read about the Five stars of Bosco, the constellation of the ruling dragon, the line of angels and a few other things when Loki decided to open his own gate and without a word sat on her bed, watching his master engrossed in her book but he knew her well enough to know she was not paying attention.

"So... You wanna talk about it." he grinned at her and Lucy up from her book and pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at him.

"No." She looked back at the book and ignored when he chuckled. "I feel like it was a dream." She mumbled and again glared at him when he laughed. "Believe me, it was not," he smirked once again at her and dodged the pillow that came his way and chuckled.

"Oh come on! You totally loved it." Loke fanned his face and jumped off the bed when Lucy threw another pillow at him. "Shut up," she muttered but her cheeks gave her away. Smiling at her, Loke sat down next to her and watched her shut her book, and groan but didn't say anything.

"You know, you should take a mission to clear your head, plus, we can see how far we have come." He bumped his shoulder with her and smiled as she considered the idea before nodding.

"Yeah. I'd like that." She smiled at him and become cosy in her bed, suddenly very sleepy.

It's not like Loke was going to admit he slipped some Sleeping spell in the room so she could sleep. And Not like, Kaleb was going to admit he stayed awake, listening to her thoughts and her spirits until she fell asleep.

For some reason, Kaleb felt that just sharing pleasure with Lucy would never be enough.

* * *

 ** _I_** ** _apologise to the people who love Lahar. I am sorry for painting him a villain here, i meant no harm or anything._**


	10. Chapter 10

The next week was very interesting for everyone at the White Sea. Lucy and Evergreen had their first session at the Sudhipa and for once, Lucy was not the one who was a blushing mess and smirked at Evergreen who happened to be a groaning and red mess, burying her face in the heap of pillows, refusing to talk to her.

Her Teacher was a male to her relief because she doesn't know how she feels about having talks and sex with a girl. Her teacher's name was Reo and he was a sonic mage and a very sweet guy but nowhere near as handsome as Kaleb and his brothers. They talked for a while, getting to know each other and Lucy telling him that she was experienced in the field more than she would like to admit and her body sagged with relief when Reo told her that knowing about her body and about her Partner's was not a crime.

They talked mainly about the appropriate behaviour and responds to advances made and Boscan Culture with no Physical in the first session and she was fine with it.

Then, to cool off the blushing Fairy, Lucy and Evergreen sneaked of to beach and spent the majority of the day playing in the water and partying until an unamused Laxus came to drag them back much to their amused disdain. They were quickly pulled into the growing group of friends Lucy and Ever made at the guild, gossiping with the girls for the rest of the night, Lucy trying to ignore a certain Pradesh and was successful so far.

The next day Lucy stood in front of the mission board, her luggage already ready, just looking for the right mission and she smiled and leaned up on her tiptoes, trying to grab the flyer and huffed an agitated breath glaring at the offending piece of paper that was out of her reach.

A well-toned arm grabbed it for her and Lucy turns around to see who it was smiled at Chris who gave her the paper with an amused look of his own, making her roll her eyes. "Oh Shut up! It's not my fault that I am short." She pouted and watched him smirk at her and just rolled her eyes at him.

"You are going solo?" Chris followed her as she read the flyer and made her way to Thane to get it signed and he noticed that Lucy was for a reason ignoring Kaleb.

"Yeah." She smiled at him and he was expecting more to the answer but nodded his head when she just waved at him and quickly paced towards Bickslow and showed him the request, listening to her conversation with his brother. "- So I will be back in two days. I left the book Freed wanted in my room and if you need to contact me I have the Lacrima Laxus gave me." She was basically bouncing on her feet and Christoff felt somewhere deep inside him that something was wrong. One look at Bick's face confirmed his doubt as both of them watched Lucy skip out of the guild.

* * *

The mission was kind of easy looking but Lucy saw right through it as soon as she read the details. The mayor had reported a strange sighting of a creature of dark in the forest near a town named Houndfair and Lucy had a book ready in her hand as soon as she read the word Philtre among the stolen things.

A Philtre is a special kind of drink which had magical attributes to it. It depended on which one was stolen that Lucy could really make out what was happening in the forest. Fortunately, by train, it would take her only four hours to reach the place and Lucy bit her lip as she settled in the privet coach, trying to understand more about the situation with the description of the Strange creature.

It seems to be huge, almost as tall as the oak trees in the forest, walks like an ape, using its forelimbs and red blazing eyes. It could be possible that a shapeshifting mage took the Philtre to enhance his power, or it was a Dark Philtre, corrupting the creature it was fed to. A rush flowed through her veins and Lucy felt almost giddy about her adventure. He made sure she had all her keys along with the object keys, which were almost unheard of.

They were like Requip mage's weapons but Celestial mages didn't prefer them because it is better to have others do their work than making an effort themselves. Lucy, at this point, had three. A sword, double mace and a two end spear sword. When she finally reached Houndfair, the first thing Lucy did was tried to feel the magic around her like she practised and shuddered at the unpleasant feeling that coursed through her body.

The whole town was surrounded by such a negative vibe that Lucy bit her lip, making sure Laxus's com was there on an emergency dial. She stopped at the Mayor's house and frowned at the ominous looking building. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it and looked up when a Frankenstein looking Butler, opened the door for her.

"Hey, I'm Lucy Heartfilia from Fai- I mean White Sea. I am here to meet the mayor." She grimaced at the slip of tongue and groaned internally when the butler narrowed his eyes at her. "May I see the Guildmark please?" His voice had an edge to it and Lucy nodded her head and turned around, pulling her tank top strap aside, letting the man see her guild mark and smiled when he stepped aside, allowing her inside.

Lucy followed him up the stairs, out of habit, looking at the exit points in the house as they walked and when he finally stopped in front of the huge oak doors, Lucy sighed at the familiar feeling of entering a sophisticated office and knocked on the door. The low pitched come in had her scrunching her nose up and she opened the door and walked in with confidence and took a good look at the Mayor who was an old Lady, almost frowning at her.

"Mrs Radhe, I am Lucy Heartfilia from White sea and I would like to know more about the entire incident that happened before I can see for my self what the problem might be." She put on her business mode face and sat in front of her client and watched the lady raise an eyebrow but speak up.

"Ms Heartfilia. Thank you for taking our request. As you read on the flyer, there is a mysterious creature in the woods and my people are scared to go to the forest now. You see, a major part of our income comes from the forest yield of oak and special herbs in the east part and ever since the monster came, the woodcutters and other people are scared for their safety." She stood up and walked to the window, overlooking at the line of forests from her office window and Lucy watched her.

"I have to ask Mrs Radhe, do you know what kind of Philtre was stolen from the magic shop?" Lucy asked softly watching the mayor turn around with a frown and look at her with confusion but answer her question.

"If I remember correctly, It was a Redspike Philtre. Why?" Lucy felt everything click and she got up with a smile and shook her head. "It's nothing you need to worry about. I will contact you once I am done." She shook hands with the still confused lady and walked out of her office and house, walking straight to the forest.

A Redspike* is a rare thorny plant which has a poisonous attribute to it. It was used as a drug in old times, to get high and to hallucinate but in large quantities, it has a huge side effect. Like red blazing eyes being the physical ones. If used correctly, in the correct potion, it was used to tame wild animals by dark guilds in dragon era to ward off people from their part of the forest.

Lucy had a feeling that it was actually a Vulcan what was captured and given a dose of the Redspike Philtre, making it look like a possessed monster. She watched her step as she walked deeper into the forest and stopped in a small clearing, a slight shudder passed her neck when she felt like she was being watched.

Lucy did her reading on her way here and she learned that the east part of the forest where the people collected herbs from had a special kind of flower known as Austras Koks which looks like a wildflower and looks very common but if found, it is used to perform body binding spells.

She Stood up straight and watched a looming figure fix its gaze on her, its red eyes almost haunting but Lucy took a deep breath and changed her posture into a fighting stance, watching the Vulcan step in the light and marvelled at how scary it actually looked. If she had it guess it must have copied the magic of a shadow of mist mage at the black air which surrounded the monster but Lucy was ready.

As soon as it charged, She was surprised at how fast it came at her and thanked Virgo when she pulled her down in the hole and Lucy felt her magic course through her and channelled Capricorns magic in her, transforming in her Star dress and summoned the double end Spear in her hand, Jumping out of the way where the fist landed and dodged its attack as it tried to land a kick at her and pierced the blade in its shoulder, ignorings its scream and hooking her leg around its neck and using Capricorns strength to choke it all her might. She screamed when it grabbed her leg and tossed her like a ragdoll at a tree, gasping for breathing before gritting her teeth and getting up again.

She ran towards it again and mid-run, transformed into Star-dress Scorpio, sending a blast of sand towards the raging monster and throwing daggers at its leg and arm and abdomen, watching it roar in pain and quickly summoned Loke as she hardly managed to slide away from the angry arm than probably wanted to squish her to death. She took a deep breath when finally Loke landed a Regulus Punch on it, making the Vulcan fall down and giving Virgo enough time to bind it in chains.

Biting her lip she let Loke help her up and smiled at the spirit who gave her a proud look, but both of them knew it was not over yet. Lucy checked her keys and nodded at Virgo and Loke who vanished in the spirit world once again and lifted her tank top to see the forming bruise on her side and huffed. She pulled out her silver key and sighed. " Open the gates of the Hunting Dogs- Canum and Venat!" She smiled and the Squeaked when they jumped on her and licked her face, making her giggle.

"Okay! Okay! You guys!" She laughed and pushed them away gently and rubbed their neck before getting up. " We need to find a dark guild and I need your help." She scratched their ears and watched as one of their eyes glowed before they turned around, and shot past her, making her run after them, smiling at how reliable they were.

What seemed like miles, Lucy covered behind her spirit, leaving her a bit out of breath as she crouched down and looked at the small building in front of her. She was not sure if she should call for help or go alone so she did the next best thing.

Taking her Lacrima Com out she quickly messaged Evergreen, knowing she is always online telling her if she didn't message her back in fifteen minutes to send back up to her current location and turned the device off before she could call.

She closed her eyes and after a few minutes of concentrating determined that there were seven members inside the building. Two were stronger than the rest, one of them had to be the guild master or their leader and other had to be the Yankees. She couldn't just barge in, she needed a plan.

"Virgo," Lucy whispered and felt her appear next to her, not saying a word. "I need you to weaken the foundation of the building and destroy all the support points but leave only one and wait for my signal." She watched the pink hair made nod and disappear in the ground and then sent her keys to the spirit world after she had Caleum in her hand. "Alright, Caleum lets get this thing done with." She mumbled and got up and ruffled her hair messy, knowing that dark guild or not the men didn't go forcing women here in Bosco.

She also knew that whoever was controlling that Vulcan would know in a while that something was wrong and had to finish this before that. Knocking on the door, Lucy heard it all do ere silent inside before the door opened and she looked at the rogue who opened the door and smiled. Before he could speak, She had her whip wrapped around his neck and hauled him out where Caleum blasted him with his ray, knocking him out and Lucy charged forward, Gasping when she felt something sharp pierce her skin but ignored it and The Four Yankee males were ready to use their magic on her when two were taken down by arrows and the other two taken down by Loke punching them unconscious.

Lucy saw the Guildmaster look at her with shaking Rage and the first time during the mission she was sort of scared. It reminded her of all the time her team dragged her in a dark guild hideout, leaving her behind to deal with the mages with her nonexistent training.

"You stupid Bitch! I am not going to let some fucking kid ruin my plan!" He growled in anger and that's when sharp thorn embedded roots grabbed her leg and tossed her at the wall making her see gasped at the pain but there was a part in her which refused to back down and lose this fight. She was Lucy Heartfilia of Fairytail and White Sea and she was not going to lose so easily.

What took over her at that moment was difficult to explain but Loke watched as he struggled with the other mage as Lucy's eyes glowed gold and she stood up, her hand out forward towards the guild master who called out more thorn vines and sent it towards her only to turn into dust as a golden glow surrounded her and Loke prayed for the dark mages soul chuckling as he punched his opponent's gut with all his might and the power of his masters energy recharge his, he turned around right in time to see the beam of light right under the guild master and his scream as the spell left him powerless and paralyzed on the floor.

She glared at the wasted man and she really didn't know how to describe it but for Lucy, it was a huge thing that she had managed to take out a potion controlled Vulcan and a dark guild and she still had magically left in her. She saw Loke grin at her, his eyes showed how proud he was and Lucy pulled his arm and took him out of the building and sighed and called out Taurus. "Can you get the bodies out please."

She was surprised at how weak her voice was and Taurus for once didn't make any perverted comments and did what she requested him to do. Once they were all out, Lucy who was leaning against Loke whispered "Now Virgo." cringing when the building collapsed and watched the ground open up next to her and Virgo pop up, and binding the mages in magic cancelling chains and Lucy sat down on the ground while Loke called the authorities.

She had slight tears in her eyes. This was her first mission which she did on her own. Taurus and Virgo smiled at their emotional master and the bull spirit patted her head before disappearing back while Virgo kneeled down next to her and Lucy didn't even notice she had the First Aid kit in her hand.

"You did good Princess." she smiled at Lucy who had a watery smile of her own on her face. "I couldn't have done anything without your help." She smiled at the maid spirit who cleaned the wound bloody wound on her leg and tried not to cry when she took out pieced of thorns from it.

"You should call Ever and tell her everything is fine Lucy." Loke handed her the com. and disappeared only to appear next to her again using his own magic, not wanting to strain hers. He sat next to her and took a washcloth and dipped it in wound cleaning med and wiped her still bleeding cut on her upper arm and watched her cringe.

When Lucy called, It didn't take Ever a second to pick up and she frowned seeing the audience behind her. There was Laxus, obviously, Bickslow and Freed and to her surprise, Chris and Vander too and Lucy could just blink for a moment, her vision was a bit hazy.

"Are you alright? Lucy?" Laxus's voice had her focusing on the screen again and she crinkled her nose when Virgo poured alcohol on her wound and hissed. "I am fine Spark Plug. Just a fun mission and few cuts here and there." She grinned at him and watched a proud gleam in his eyes.

"Yeah? Tell me about it." She knew they wanted to know why Lucy would send them a message about backup for such a simple mission and she started from the beginning and pausing only once or twice when too much pressure was applied on the wound or she became a bit dizzy. In the end, she had her head in her hand and Virgo pulled the screen back so she could look in her eyes and tilted her head.

"I think you have a concussion, Princess. Also, brother fears that the cut on your upper arm may have poison in to so you need medical attention." Virgo ignored Loke glaring at her or Lucy groaning.

"Lucy!" The accusing tone directed towards her by her friends had her chuckling. "Hey, just because i know how to fight doesn't mean i would stop getting injured." She grinned at them and stopped when Chris got up growling. The next thing she knows is a flash of white and a glaring dragon slayer in front of him with Vander who looked at her with concern.

"Poison is no laughing matter, Lucy!" He grabbed the Com and pressed disconnect after telling them he will bring her back. He looked at the wound and lifted his hand up, letting his magic heal the wound and watching the pain leave her face as he placed his hand in her forehead and watched her hazy eyes turn normal before he put her to sleep. It was then when he noticed her spirit still standing there and watched the lion spirit look at his sleeping master once again before going back to the spirit realm.

"I'll stay here and wait for the councilmen and then collect her reward." Vander waved Chris off and glared at the still unconscious mages in front of him.

It took him one jump to reach home and his stop was the guild's backyard. Carrying her sleeping form inside, he slowly carried her to her room, his dragon could still smell blood on her and it didn't like it at all.

Laxus and the others were already there and he slowly walked past them and inside her room and put her on her bed. In this time, Kaleb joined the party with a concerned look of his own, watching Christoff peel off the bandage from her foot and a series of growl echoed in the room, surprisingly from Emzadi as well when they saw the punctured thorn wound all the way up to her mid-calves and slight blood around it.

"Somebody wants to explain what happened?" Kaleb broke the silence with a frown and Bickslow answered his question.

"Well...When Lucy took the mission, she thought something was off about it when she saw the things stolen list at the guild and I am not even surprised, she was right. The town had special herbs growing in the forest and one of them is Austras Koks which she explained is used for human binding spells. So the Dark mages needed these herbs but they also needed the people away from the forest. They stole the Redspike Philtre and captured a Vulcan, inducing it in it and watched it terrorise the people out of the forest and collect the herbs for themselves. Lucy defeated the Vulcan and then the guild members in the process, getting cut by a poisonous blade, concussion and thorns." Bickslow finished taking a deep breath.

"Right now she is sleeping." Christ joined them with a frown on her face. "She will be fine when she wakes up, she used a lot of magic but nothing too serious." He turned around to look at Laxus and the rest and they seemed really calm about all of this.

To say that Kaleb reached a point of anger where he had to leave the room when their memories showed how this was the condition on an easy mission, Kaleb could only wonder how to hurt Lucy actually got during her previous missions with her _team_.

* * *

So, yeah. For the rest of the week, she was under the watchful eyes of her friends but other than that she was really happy. She finished her first Solo mission, earning 200,000jewles and after rent, she had 140000 for herself.

It had evoked some emotions in her and later Evergreen had agreed, somewhat edgy but told her that it made a difference when her team didn't destroy the reward money.

Now, Lucy was standing in her room frowning at the papers in her hand and groaning. She put on her boots and pulled her hair up in a ponytail and went downstairs straight to Kaleb's office. The guild master had sort of scolded her for engaging in what turned out to be an S- class mission but also telling her he was proud of her when she has recovered which made her feel all warm and gooey inside.

She knocked on his door, His deep voice sent shivers down her spine and she controlled her thoughts when he asked her to come in. She smiled at him and shut the door behind her and watched him look at her, now leaning back on his chair.

"I was wondering if I can have your permission to leave for a few days." She sat in front of him and tried her best not to let him in her mind, watching him narrow his eyes at her and she shifted in her seat.

"For what?" He got up and walked around the table and Lucy could only look down at her hand to stop the bubbling emotions in her chest as Kaleb leaned against the desk in front of her and Lucy bit her lip and looked up finally calming her frantically beating heart.

"I need to go back to Fiore." Her answer was as vague as she could keep and she looked up at him almost ready to beg when he just frowned and gave her a confused look. " For what?" pressing on the question, he watched Lucy bit her lip and look away for a second before standing up in front of him with a sigh.

"Its personal matters i need to take care of and since i just joined your guild, I need my guild masters permission to travel back to Fiore. Your Countries law." She mumbled trying to maintain eye contact but his eyes had her feeling lost every time she looked into them. ' _Please Master Kaleb. This is really important.'_ She looked at him from under her lashes and pouting slightly for effect and watched his lips tilt up in a smile.

' _I would like to know what is so important that you need to go back.'_ Leaning down, he traced her lower lip with his thumb before tugging it out and smiling at her. Lucy felt her heart stutter and then she blinked, understanding what he was doing and glaring at him making him smile again.

" You have my permission to leave..." Kaleb took a strand of her hair in his hand and watched as she raised her perfectly sculptured eyebrow at him waiting for him to continue and smiled. "But You will be travelling with Farron." He grinned when she looked at him with disbelief and went back to his chair.

"There is no need to send Farron with me. I am sure he would be busy with his work." She gritted her teeth, glaring at the Mindbender who just kept on smiling at her. "Nonsense. Farron would love to accompany you." His smile turned into a smirk and Lucy felt a weird shiver warm her heart at the expression yet spread cold warning signals through her mind.

"In fact, Farron was going to leave for Fiore in Two days himself. It helps both of you." He just shrugged his shoulders and Lucy narrows her eyes at him but then smiles as sweetly as she could.

"Of Course Master Kaleb. Thank you." She turned around to leave and paused at the doorstep for a second before turning around and continued smiling. "Now that I have your Permission, I will leave with Farron but I will be returning in two weeks time. I am happy that you Understand." She smirks as his own grin fell and left the room before he could say anything.

The next thing she did, as soon as she went back to her room wrote an official letter with whatever information she gathered and signed her name at the end before sending it off with Virgo. She was so close to getting what she wanted. The day she did it, he won't even know what hit him.

* * *

"You know, You really have guts." Lucy jumped when a voice spoke from behind her and she turned around wondering how he sneaked up behind her before she smiled at him.

"And why is that?" She watched him jump on her couch and lie down smiling up at her.

"You keep challenging him. He is Kaleb Pradesh, he is not someone you mess with." Vander tipped his chin, putting emphasis on Kaleb's name making Lucy giggle. "i know who he is Van, but I really need to go to Fiore for a while." her expressions became distant before she shook her head and sighed.

"Thinking about moving back?" Vander joked and watched her eyes widen before she shook her head. "No!" She crinkled her nose making him smirk and he moved a bit so she could sit beside him.

"I Love it here in Bosco and I am NOT thinking about moving back at all. It's just... I promised my best friends that i will be there in a month to meet them and it has been a month. Also... there is a thing i need to take care off." she finished teasingly, knowing he came here to milk information out of her.

"Are you sure you can't tell me what it is?" Getting up, he caught her hand in his and Lucy grinned at him and pecked his lips, taking him by surprise.

"No." she got up Laughing, Leaving a Statue still Vander for the third time.


	11. Chapter 11

It was sort of funny to sneak out of the house like a teenager, trying not to laugh and jumping out of the window with heels in one hand and trying to keep the clutch in another.

The two blondes and one brunette managed not to make a sound as they tiptoed out of the Apartment complex, not able to wipe the grin off their faces. "Shh!" Emzadi tried to silence Lucy but couldn't contain her own giggle. Ever bit her lip and followed her friend's action and laughed as quietly as she could.

As soon as they were out of the gate, they sprinted towards the next block before stopping and Laughing out loud at their own silliness. "That was so stupid!" Em laughed as she slipped on her heels and Lucy had to hold her stomach from laughing so much. "Agreed!" She grinned and quickly put her heels on and fixed her hair.

They could have just walked out of the house after telling everyone else where they were going, but Lucy just shook her head and smirked, _" They will just follow us like last time."_ and so, after dinner, Virgo had collected their clothes and shoes and taken them to Lucy's room and when they were sure everyone was in their room, they got ready and with Aries help, jumped out of the window onto the soft wool and towards freedom.

After her little mind battle with Kaleb, she wanted to just have fun before she left so here they were, sneaking out of the house at 11:45 at night.

Emzadi being the Bold Boscan wore almost see-through white bikini top and tight black skirt which ended right below her butt, showing off her toned legs and tight stomach. Evergreen had a turquoise dress, as short as Em and tight enough to show off her curves, showing an ample amount of her cleavage. Her hair was in waves and without glasses, she looked like a completely different person.

As for Lucy. She wore a hot pink leather dress and white pump heels, her hair in an up bun with few messy strands lose on her face. On top of that, feeling daring, her dress was backless, but Lucy felt that People have seen more in Bosco to care about how less material was there in the dress.

"I can't wait to party all night." Ever grinned and smoothened her dress, following her friends and Lucy skipped forward, looking at them with excitement in her eyes. "We should go to a strip club." She winked at Ever and laughed when blood settled in on her face with embarrassment.

"Most definitely!" Emzadi clapped her hand and smirked. "They have just male strip clubs and girl, its worth every cent you spend." She rubbed her leg thinking about the exciting memories and Lucy whistled and nodded her head. "I am down." Before looking at Ever who was biting her lip but then huffed. "Oh fuck it! Let's go." She grinned at the two blondes.

A few minutes later, Emzadi, Lucy and Ever chuckled at the long line of girls wanting entrance in the club and followed the Solar Dragon Slayer, showing their guild mark and Lucy winked at the guy at the door, laughing when he winked back. She let out an excited breath as they entered the club, music blasting in the air, with the smell of perfume and sweat mixed with alcohol and sex in the air and Lucy sighed.

"Oh my..." Evergreen exclaimed watching a male stripper walk in a police officers hat and she looked at Lucy with an excited grin making her laugh.

"Come on!" Emzadi grabbed their hands and the three went straight to the bar and Lucy leaned forward, looking at the menu option and hummed thinking about some whisky and looked up to call for the waiter and was startled to see one so close to her face.

"What can I get for you, sweetheart?" He was a pretty bulked up man, with ebony black hair and caramel green eyes and a dimpled smile, Lucy could only grin and wink at him. "Whiskey Sour, please." She watched his eyes shift to her lips and she let out a breathy laugh and watched him make her a drink. Looking around she smirked watching Evergreen already on the dancefloor and Emzadi getting a lap dance from a firefighter making her laugh.

"Never seen you here before. First time?" The caramel babe put her drink down in front of her and she smiled at him. "Just shifted here." She took a sip from her drink, maintaining eye contact and smiled behind her glass when the guy leaned forward, his own eyes twinkling.

"I'm Mace." He put his hand forward and Lucy took it happily, putting her glass down and smiling. "Lucy."

"You are really beautiful Lucy." Mace kissed her knuckled and Lucy just shook her hand. " You are really _beautiful_ too Mace." She laughed when he scrunched his nose and watched him go, attending another girl at the bar and Lucy picked her to drink up and pulled the pins out from her hair and let them tumble down as she walked towards the dance floor, Smiling at Ever who danced to the rhythm of the sensual beat.

She gulped her drink down and shook her head at the burning feeling and put her glass down on the table before jumping on the dance floor and bumped into Ever with a laugh and watched her grin at her.

She watched the male on the pole in front of her and whooped with the crowd as he dipped down and kissed the girl in front of her before returning back to his routine. She felt heat course through her when a rough hand grabbed her waist gently and pressed her back to his hard chest and Lucy tipped her head back, enjoying the feeling of guy running his hand on her side before turning her around and she let out a surprised breath, coming face to face with a really hot guy.

Oh, tonight was her night.

The guy had dark green hair or maybe blue but she couldn't tell with the lighting. He had dark eyes or maybe it was just Lust swimming in them as he pulled her closer smirking down at her. Putting her hand on his chest, she trailed it up watching him lean into her touch and it was Lucy's turn to smirk.

He seemed to have caught on to what she was doing and mirth-filled his eyes as he leaned down, eyes almost her level and Lucy realised how tall he was, then she felt her finger trail along her leg and she bit her lip, watching him grin and tilt his head as if saying ' _your move'._

Lucy grabbed his hand that just trailed along her leg and intertwined her hand with his, turning around in his hold and pressing her back to his front and putting his hand on her stomach, almost laughing when his hand twitched in her hold. She moved along the beat of the music, almost stepping out of his hold but he grabbed her waist and pulled her back before Lucy felt his hot breath on her neck making her shudder.

Her eyes look up by chance and she catches Emzadi winking and showing her a thumbs up sigh. Lucy shivered when the man bit her lip and she tilted her head to look at him, before capturing his lip in hers. She turned around, his face between her hands as she nibbled on his bottom lip before leaning back and watching him open his eyes, half-lidded before groaning when he saw her grin up at him.

"I win." She whispered against his lips and pecked them, before taking a step out of his hold and to the bar once again. She felt his gaze on her back as she plopped down on the bar stool and watched Mace walk over to where she was and put a glass in front of her and pushed it forward.

"Vodka, straight. On me." He winked at her and Lucy just shrugged and downed the shot, before biting in the lemon he held between his hands and winked at him when Mace looked at her with a heated look.

"Lucy! You gotta come with me!" Emzadi grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the bar, passing the green hair guy who was leaning against a table who kept his eyes on her until they were hidden behind the crowd.

Emzadi pulled her in a cubical type room where Ever was already sitting, sipping a drink and Lucy saw the chair and pole in from of them and moaned. "You are the best Em." she kissed the dragon slayers cheek and sat between them, laughing when Evergreen muttered.

"If hell is like this, that is where i am going."

* * *

It must have been hours when finally Lucy helped Emzadi carry Ever out of the club and she looked around, wondering what time it was and groaned when she finally saw a clock on the wall across the street.

4:37 am.

She could only hope no one was up. They walked slowly, both the slightly drunk blondes taking in a deep breath and waking themselves up, and then Lucy giggled. "That was fun." She mused looking at Em who had a satisfied smile on her face as well.

"It was. Last time i had this much fun was when Xally and I went on a three-day vacation. Gods, the amount of Sex dancing and food we had...Mmm." She closed her eyes as if enjoying the moment and Lucy smiled, feeling truly relaxed after a long time.

They walked back in silence, both taking turns to help Ever who was almost asleep and Lucy wiped her face with a makeup wipe as they almost reached home, smiling shyly when Emzadi raised her eyebrow at her. It was after a very long time that Lucy had sex in a club bathroom and Mavis, it had been so delicious, she wondered if she will ever meet the Blue hair guy again. Her toes curled thinking about how well her evening went and Lucy was not embarrassed like she would have been once to do the walk of shame.

Emzadi gently passed Ever towards her as she opened the door, thanking God that it didn't creak or make any sound. Lucy bit her lip when Em giggled closing the door behind her and they tiptoed to the stairs, praying that they were almost there and hoping no one would be awake when she felt the familiar feeling in her skin and looked up at the end of the staircase, smiling sheepishly when Vander smirked down at them.

Emzadi high fived him on her way to her room and he watched Lucy struggle with Ever who mumbled about letting her sleep and the blonde huff. "Yes, you can sleep in your bed. Come on Ever." She almost whined and looked at Vander for help who rolled his eyes but padded towards them barefoot and picked the drunk Fairy up and effortlessly carry her to her room, Lucy following him closely.

Yawning, Lucy put the blanket on her friend and freed her hair of the pins before leaving the room. Vander followed her to her room but Lucy didn't have enough energy to tell him off.

Vander closed the door behind him and leaned against it watching Lucy groan and step out of her heels and plop on the couch making him chuckle. He walked closer and smiled when he saw she was already asleep and picked her up, a new feeling of protectiveness washing over him and he put her on her bed, doing the same she did with Evergreen and removed her hair from her face, watching her sleep for a few seconds before leaving the room.

When he saw her the first time, Vander was enchanted by her beauty. Sure he has seen and been with a lot of beautiful girls but something about Lucy was different. At first, he just thought it was her good looks and sinful body but now that he knows her, he truly understands why Bicks and his friends wanted to keep the blonde a secret.

You don't meet a girl like Lucy every day, and Vander was happy that Bickslow brought her here.

* * *

"I am really disappointed in your Master Kaleb." Dean Kalperden shook his head and glared at the guild master in front of him with no heat in his eyes though and a small smile on his lips.

The man in question could only smile back and greet the man properly as he was received in his office. "I apologize for disappointing you so soon in my visit, Dean, but what is my crime?" The grey-haired man just laughed at patted his back, welcoming him in his office.

"You know what your crime is, boy. Don't act innocent with me." The amusement in his voice had Kaleb relaxing in his chair and he smiled patiently at him.

"Things have been busy at White sea with paperwork. We didn't get time to discuss important matters just yet." he put the file on the table, letting the dean pick it up and read his request, smiling at his surprised expressions.

"My my... She has indeed become a really strong mage." He whispered, looking at the detailed notes and Kaleb saw the hazy memory of a young Lucy in his mind that, watching the toddler summon a gold key spirit at the tender age of five.

"She is a strong mage and since you always evaluate the rank of our celestial mages, I feel Lucy would like to be a part of this test as well. If you don't mind, we would like to keep the test next month." Kaleb explained, watching the dean of the precious institute frown.

"Why wait a month?" He asked and Kaleb just shook his head. He valued the privacy his guild members wanted and never actually looked into their minds and their lives until he thought something was seriously wrong. Lucy was a very intelligent woman who understood his magic, not all the way through but she knew how to keep him out of her head. Every time he thought that her surface thoughts might tell him what the blonde was thinking, he met with a closed door.

He could ask her again, but she had just smiled and brushed it off, claiming it had nothing to do with magic and the only thing he learned was it had something to do with her father. With a sigh he replied.

"Ms Heartfilia has some personal matters to take care off back in Fiore and she leaves tomorrow." He saw understanding was on the older man's face and with a small smile, he closed her file.

"Of course master Kaleb. I would be honoured to be the one evaluating the strength of the Strongest Celestial mage in Isgar."

* * *

There was an unspoken thing that went between Bickslow and Lucy where they really didn't have to tell the other that something was bothering them. Like right now Lucy looked pretty calm on the surface but any Fairytail member would recognise the rage in those chocolate eyes as she punched the training dummy with vengeance.

Bix held it steady, watching silently as she blew off some steam and honestly, seeing her fight now that she was trained properly, he was sort of scared of her more than he has ever been. It was a very common thought among people who didn't know her that Lucy was weak but Bickslow begs to differ.

Even before she got her share of proper training, Lucy has always been strong. Her disadvantage was that her spirits took a lot of her magic when she summoned them and kept their gates opened. He could bet that if any S-class tried to keep a gold key opened for more than a few minuted, their magic container would start straining.

"Agh!" Bickslow staggered back when Lucy kicked the dummy with enough force to drop it on the floor and watched her wipe her sweat and huff out in anger. "Well Damn, cosplay. Who pissed you off?" He watched her chest heave up and down in anger and winced at the sight of the bloody-knuckled under the bandaged hands.

Lucy shook her head and Bickslow dropped the topic, knowing she would talk if it was important. Sighing, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the gym, dragging her to the infirmary and she followed him silently, both ignoring the guild members looking their way and Bickslow ignored as Chris got up to help and only shook his head.

He opened the door in front of her and pushed her in gently and made her sit on the bed, taking her hand in his and slowly unwrapping the bandage from her hand, swatting her arm when she clenched the fist, drawing out more blood.

"Wendy called today." She started and Bickslow smiled as he grabbed the cotton and other stuff from the shelf, knowing she would talk.

"Yeah?" he kept his voice as soft as he could when he saw the slight pain in her eyes which he was sure was not from the bruised knuckles. Lucy nodded and kept her eyes fixed on her hands, watching Bickslow clean her knuckles and continued.

"Erza told her to tell me that I needed to call them and stop making them worry about me." She kept her statement simple, knowing that was not all that Erza had said and felt Bickslow stop for a second and look at her before getting back to applying antiseptic on her wound.

"I...I don't know what to say." He admitted though he sure had a lot of things he wanted to say. Lucy nodded her head and just smiled a sad one at him. "That's what I told Wendy." She looked in his blood red eyes and saw a soft look in them. "I don't know how i should i feel about this? Should I be happy that she finally thought about me or mad that even if she did it was to tell me that i was worrying her." Lucy admitted and Bickslow just let her talk, carefully bandaging her hand.

"Why do i feel like...I..." Her throat clogged and she bit down on her lip, trying not to get emotional. "Why do I feel like I was never considered an equal in that team?" She looked right back at him and Bickslow could only pull her in for a hug, glaring at the wall in front of him as his own anger rose.

"W-was it because I was weaker than them, Bix? Or because of my family? I... I don't understand? I.." A sudden hiccup sob had the seith mage tightening his hold on the blonde and he ran his hand through her hair.

"You were never weak Lucy. You are the most intelligent and strong woman I know. Hell, Laxus is right. If you decided to take over the world I bet you would!" He smiled slightly when she giggled in between her sobs but didn't stop caressing her hair.

"Your team... they are idiots." He spat out in anger and had to close his eyes to calm down. "Your team may have been a powerhouse Lucy but they would never be as smart as you are. And as for your family, i don't think anyone ever held it against you for leaving your dad or being rich." He pulled back so he could look at her and pressed his lips at the very familiar look of self-doubt in her eyes. He just wiped her cheek and made her sit on the bed again and got her a glass of water.

She wiped her eyes furiously and then laughed at herself. God, she was being pitiful. It was nothing to cry over and here she was, sobbing. She should just be happy that Erza sent her a message and just call her.

Apparently, Bickslow knew her well enough to hit her on her head and glare at her when he looked up, holding where he hit her with a whimper. "You will not call her. It's not your fucking duty to call her, Lucy. If she is worried about you, then she should have called you a long time ago. Fuck, she would have called you the moment we knew you were back. " He saw the pain settle on her face again but this time there was understanding too.

"Now come on. If we stay here for too long, people will have the wrong idea." He rolled his tongue out and grinned when she finally giggled and hit his arm. He ruffled her hair and walked beside her, his eyes meeting Laxus's first and he understood. Laxus always knew when something was wrong with Lucy. Also, he smelled the tears and the blood.

Next to his eyes met the lavender ones and he was surprised for a moment but looked away before Lucy could follow his gaze.

"How about you freshen up and then we will get some Icecream?" He smiled at her and his smile grew when Lucy's eyes lit up at the mention of Icecream and watched her nod and rush to her apartment. Then he felt his smile slip and looked at Laxus, fury settled back in his eyes.

The dragon slayer was quick on his feet and joined his best friend in the now empty gym, listening to what just happened and growl when he heard why Lucy was crying.

"Damn It, Man! Just when she was getting better one of them had to do something to mess it up!" He spat in anger, pacing like a caged animal. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "It took her a damn year in Spirit world to be where she is today and it takes one comment from Erza to make her doubt herself. " he sat down on one of the benches and looked at Bix who had his arms folded in front of her, a frown on his face.

"Makes me wonder how they actually treated her. I mean... We saw the 'normal' at the guild every day, ya know. I wonder how they treated her when no one was around." he rubbed his forehead and sighed. He looked back at his friend and saw Laxus looking down at his hands.

Both the men didn't say anything for a few minutes until the gym door opened and the guild master entered with a serious look on his face.

Kaleb heard enough to know it was indeed important to look into Lucy's mind. He heard her self-doubt and he heard her memories along with other comments she didn't mention in front of Bickslow, like, she should be in Fiore and not Bosco, training and not on a vacation.

The idea scared him that the girl was very well capable of locking her deep feelings that they were nowhere near surface thoughts for him or anyone to read.

"Kaleb..." Bickslow tried to stop his brother from interfering but one look from him was enough to make him shut up. "You know what suppressing emotions can do to a person, Bickslow. You know it better than anyone when you have seen it so many times." He set his stern gaze on his brother who ducked his head but let out a deep breath.

"It's not easy, alright! Lucy is not as expressive as everyone believes her to be." he tried explaining but his brother just shook his head. "Kaleb... She can fake emotions like a pro. It's easy for her to hide behind a smile than explain what is wrong. You need to understand that you can't just expect Lucy to become frank with you. She will just end up building more walls," Bickslow had his hands up in frustration and he looked at his brother, hoping he would understand.

'H _er mind is a lock and key, Bix. But if she continued doing what she does... it's going to break her. Things that happened to her don't fix overnight.'_ Kaleb tried to talk sense into him and he was going to say more when the gym door opened and Lucy entered, wearing simple jeans and a tank top, looking at the three of them with uncertainty.

'I _hope they are not worrying over me.'_ She looked at Laxus first who had a snarl on his face and grimaced. Laxus got up from where he was sitting, and Lucy looked at him, unsure how to place her emotions when the big blonde pulled her in his arms and almost squeezed her to death. _Mavis, I am so not used to receiving so much love._ She chuckled and wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes and enjoying the few moments of affection in her life.

When he put her down, Lucy saw Kaleb before Bix as if her eyes were drawn to him like a moth to the flame. He had his normal suit on, white leather pants but a black shirt, his hair was in a half up and Mavis, she loved how tight his pants were. Looking back up, she caught his eye and something inside her stirred. It was not lust or any of those emotions. No.

She saw the same look in his eyes that she had when she was with her spirits. Like a promise. She wondered why but then Kaleb just smiled at her and walked forward.

"I have great news for you, Lucy." He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, smiling when she blushed. "When you come back from Fiore, You have a test for you rank at the guild at the Academe Celestine. I will take you there as soon as you are back." He grinned at her, which grew when Laxus frowned at the blonde and Lucy's eyes lit up with excitement and she squealed out of happiness.

"Academe Celestine! Mavis. Thank you, Kaleb." She hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek to his chest, enjoying the warmth his body emitted but stepped back before he could wrap his arms around her, unknowingly making him a bit disappointed, which Kaleb forgot when Laxus spoke.

"Wait Wait...no... You are going to Fiore? When? Why?!" He frowned at her and Lucy ducked her head and rubbed the back of her neck.

"About that..."

* * *

It took a while for Lucy to calm Laxus down and answer his and Bickslow's questions while glaring at Kaleb who was smirking at her. The dragon slayer didn't stop her but he did say that he would like to accompany her, seeing that he also had to take care of his bank accounts and a few other things.

Lucy told him she didn't mind until they left her alone to do her thing privately, Lucy was okay with the company. In the end, Bickslow took her to get some Icecream as he promised and Laxus stayed behind with Kaleb. The guild master looked at him waiting for him to say what he was struggling with.

"I know it's your duty as a guild master to look after your members, but be patient with her, alright. She had a rough childhood, hard time adjusting at the guild, wanting people to accept her for who she was and not her name. She took shit from her friends and people around her all the damn time." His eyes blazed with emotions and Kaleb just sorted through his memories, learning more about Lucy from the blonde's point of view.

"I will try my best to help Lucy, Laxus. But you have to realise, her skills at pushing her feelings away are beyond concerning. I want nothing but good for her. She is a remarkable mage and it would be a waste if her emotions are what ruined her." Kaleb meant every word he said and he knew Laxus understood. He watched the dragon slayer nod and slowly walk out of the gym.

He was concerned about Lucy just as much as Laxus was, maybe more, when he saw her red-rimmed eyes and bloody knuckles and the faint echo of the words her friend had passed along, marvelled how she had fooled all of them.

The first day she came here, she knew who he was, she knew his magic and she knew what to think around him. There were slipups where she was caught staring at him for too long or admiring his body making his smirk at her and watch her cheeks become red.

There were also moments, where late at night she thought about things, right below his floor and he heard them. Her sadness, her lonliness, her issues with her self esteem and Kaleb was concerned.

Because people who know how to be happy when thier emotions are way to fucked up were to be feared. He just wished he can help her once her own personal mission is done.


	12. Chapter 12

Delighted chimes of laughter flowing through the house that brought a smile to everyone's face. The whole family was sitting in the living room, each busy with their work and only two people were missing from the room. While Laxus worked with Freed over last of the ex-guild documents, Evergreen and Emzadi going through the fashion weekly, Kaleb on his lacrima tablet seeing through the important upgrades that the guild needed, to Christoff who was allocating guild members with missions from the mission board.

Farron was rereading the important issues he needed to take care of in Fiore, going over them with his dad and Vander was just playing games on his personal tablet. Each one would smile when they heard shrieks and yelps followed by laughter and amused snorts every now and then.

Arman wanted all of them for lunch before Lucy, Farron and Laxus boarded the plane for Fiore in the evening. They all had bits and pieces of work to finish when Lucy and Bickslow claimed they were free and before anyone could give them something to do had run to the kitchen, Lucy promising Bix that she was going to teach him how to cook.

She thought that since it was just 12:00 they could make something as simple as cookies, but laughter bubbled in her stomach everytime Bickslow managed to mess up something. It was hilarious to see the big idiot lost in the kitchen. She was bent over her knees laughing so hard that tears were flowing down her face when he opened the packet of flour and it all ended up on his face. Her stomach was hurting to a point where she had to walk away to control herself but more laughter tumbled out of her when the seith mage shook his head like a dog and sneezed when the flour itched his nose.

"Ow..ahaha...ow...my stomach." Lucy giggled, her cheeks were hurting now and she tried to calm her breath when the white material tumbled over her head like a waterfall.

It was Bickslow's turn to laugh, watching her covered in flour from head to toe, her mouth wide open until she inhaled some making her cough and then she growled. "Oh, you are on." She glared at him and picked up the carton of milk from the shelf and ran after him, grinning as he ran away from her. She channelled her magic and opened Gemini's gate silently, making them take Mira's form in satan soul right in front of Bickslow.

"Bickslow... Look at the mess you made." Gemini-Mira growled at him, glaring at the tall man who let out an 'ep' and stopped right in his spot and Lucy took advantage and jumped up on the island counter in between the kitchen and dunked all the milk on his head, watching his shudder and shiver at the cold milk dripping down his face.

When Gemini took their original form, giggling mischievously, Bickslow gasped and glared at Lucy who was looking down at him with a smug expression and before she knew, he grabbed her by her waist and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her pleas and giggles, pinning her in her place with one hand and grabbed the jug of water in another, crackling like an evil person while pouring the water on her head.

"Oh my..." a third amused voice had both of them looking at the door and both grinned sheepishly to see the audience they had, Laxus facepalming himself and Evergreen giggled behind her fan, Vander Chris and Emi laughing while Farron and Freed were silently chuckling. Arman had his hand over his lips trying not to show his amused smile and Kaleb just raised his brow and shook his head, smiling at the two of them.

Bickslow put Lucy down who immediately dug her elbow in his stomach, glaring at him when she felt the wet flour slide down her neck before she smiled at Arman shyly and said, "We'll clean it up." She swatted Bix's arm when he mumbled "we?" and smiled when he agreed. "Yeah, we will clean it up."

"All i want to know is how," Vander smirked at his brother who was wiping his face with a paper towel and just received a smile in return. "Well, Mr Elan is not going to like seeing his kitchen in a mess." Farron smiled at the two culprits in front of them and Lucy just smiled.

"I'll have it spotless in a minute." She pulled out Virgo's key and summoned the maid spirit who already had cleaning supplies in her hand. "Punishment, Princess?" Virgo smiled at her and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"How about we clean the kitchen first?" She shoved a mop in Bickslow's hand and pushed him to where he dropped the flour on her and Lucy grabbed another. The audience stayed for a few more minutes until Kaleb sighed and left when his com buzzed where he left it. Only Vander stayed behind, leaning on his arm and watching Lucy help her spirit clean the mess on the floor, occasionally, looking up at him and he smirked and winked every time she did.

He laughed when Lucy hit Bix on his head for playing with the now gooey mess on the floor before pushing both of them out of the kitchen, ordering Bickslow to take a bath. When Arman came back to check on his children, the kitchen was empty, spotlessly clean and smiled shaking his head. That Girl...

* * *

All fun and jokes aside, Lucy was running around her apartment packing her things, clothes and shoes, she pushed her toiletry is one bag and in books and all that stuff, before she grabbed the box with her letters and carefully placed it in the first bag and making sure she had everything she needed. Her eyes wandered over her table and she bit her lip and walked closer, sitting on the chair before she opened the drawer and pulled out a small box from inside, her heart beating against her chest as she opened it and tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

Blinking furiously, she cleared her throat and placed the box in her bag as well. Once she was sure she had everything she needed, Lucy grabbed her outfit and went straight to the bathroom when Virgo grabbed her bags and took them to the spirit world for her.

She stepped out of her pyjamas she wore after the bath she took and sighed, hating she had to wear a bra. She chose a mulberry shade matching lingerie and black formal shirt and white palazzo pants with black stilettos and tucked the shirt in, wearing a black belt on top. Combing her hair, She straightened them and tied them in a high Ponytail, letting a few messy strands lose before wearing a watch on her hand and looking at herself in the mirror and smiling.

She still had time before she was called down to say byes and leave for Fiore and sprayed light scent perfume on her neck, knowing Laxus hated the to concentrated one. He actually got it for her, it was Lemongrass and Laxus claims that it went well with her actual scent, which he and every dragonslayer describes as rosemary and heavenly body, like stardust.

While looking at herself in the mirror, Lucy thought about the time she had to take actual classes with a Lawyer who also happened to be a body language expert and Lucy smiled thinking about how he taught her so many things about how to process information and how to apply it legally, how to be a diplomat, how to deal with people in the government and aristocrats. She saw him as one of her greatest mentor along with her business teacher, and her diplomatic affair teacher and her language teacher.

She looked away from the mirror to the door when someone knocked on it and walked slowly towards it. In all honesty, her guildmates have never seen Lucy in a formal outfit, ones she wore when she did business with her father. She was never free when she was at the konzern as they thought her to be, her friends. Lucy was always on her feet, working meetings with female businesswomen, meeting wives of the people her father did business with, organise parties, her lessons, her education along with helping her father with business journals.

Shaking her head, she opened the door and pressed her lips together when Evergreen's mouth dropped open and she gave her a confused look. Lucy pulled her inside, checking if anyone was there in the hallway before closing the door and locking it.

"Wh... Where are you going?" Ever looked at her with confusing and Lucy just pushed her until she was sitting in one of her kitchen chairs.

"Listen Ever... the thing i am going to take care off in Fiore is serious and as soon as i get on the plane, I have to make a few calls. I would have told you more, but until i have everything thing i need and i am absolutely sure about... things, I can't." She let out a long breath and put her head in her hand.

"I want to tell you guys so bad, but the thing is, I can't under legal restrictions and if i did, then a certain Mindbender would know about it, so as soon as i am out of legal constraints, i will call you and tell you... everything." She watched the brunette nodded her head and Lucy nodded her's as well before smiling at her.

"Its nothing serious, so don't worry." she stood up and motioned her to follow, both heading down for, Lucy now carried a purse in her hand and was looking at her Lacrima phone checking messages with Levy and huffed at the lack of response as she followed Ever into the family room.

"I swear to god, Levy will always have that thing in her hand but she never replies." She grumbled and looked up with a frown and blushed when everyone stared at her. Vander whistled and Lucy felt her blush deepen.

It was strange being in a business mode in front of people who only saw her being a clueless mage. Freed gave her an understanding smile but she saw the confusion, maybe wondering why she was dressed like she was.

"So... Are you really taking over countries, Blondie?" Laxus smirked at her and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry Laxus, but unlike you, I can't go to a meeting with a coat and jeans on." She raised her eyebrow at him and pushed her hair off her shoulder, not explaining anything other than that.

"Even I am intrigued, my dear. What business do you have in Fiore?" Arman frowned at her and Lucy bit her lip, hating she couldn't just answer their questions and sighed, giving them the answer that she gave Ever.

"I...I can't disclose Information until it is solid, Arman. I am under Legal restrictions." She cringed mentally thinking about the number of papers she had to sign. But her statement didn't make anyone feel any better and Lucy just gave them a strained smile.

 _I hope it is nothing that has you in trouble now or later Lucy because if it is, you can tell us._ Kaleb's serious voice entered her mind and she looked at the Guildmaster and Lucy smiled slightly at him.

 _I promise it is not something dangerous Master Kaleb. The only thing i can tell you is that it is related to my father._ Lucy tried not to think more about it but she knew that Kaleb was not like Erik. She could keep him out of her head But Kaleb was a Mindbender and she was not a sound mage or any sort of mental ability mage to block him. All she could do was block her memories which she was sure would be fruitless if he indeed tried to look in her mind.

 _I would never intrude your privacy if i didn't think it was utterly important. I value the space my guild members need, Lucy and if i ever did, it would be when I am truly concerned about you._ His smooth soothing voice floated in her head again and Lucy just smiled at him.

"So are we ready to Leave?" Farron questioned, looking at the other blonde companions and Lucy nodded her head.

She had that buzz coursing through her body which happened every time she was dealing with the magic council, usually putting them back in their place.

They walked them to the car, and Lucy smiled when Arman kissed her on her forehead and wished her good luck.

Everyone took time to say byes. Ever and Emi hugged her and Emi even pecked her lips and smirked when she blushed.

Chris nuzzled her cheek and a small growl rumbled his chest making Lucy smile. She kissed his cheek and grinned up at him when he bent down to kiss her's as well.

Bickslow pulled her in for a big hug, twirling her around and Lucy giggled before hitting his chest.

"Don't mess my clothes you idiot." smiling at his grinning face, Lucy grabbed his cheek and pressed a small kiss on the opposite one.

Vander didn't give her time to process as he put his arm around her waist and gently pushed his lips on hers, smiling when Lucy returned the gesture and stepped back grinned down at her. Lucy didn't mind the kiss at all, she was fine with the greeting and parting kisses. Ir was Bosco after all.

"I'll miss you Star fire."

"Stay safe, Lucy. And if you need anything, i have put my number on your Lacrima Phone so don't hesitate to call. If its an emergency, We will be there before you know it." Kaleb stepped closer, as close as he had the night at the kitchen.

Raising one hand to her cheek, he caressed it gently and leaned down, Lucy meeting him halfway as his soft lips to touched hers, sending sparks and warmth throughout her body. He moulded his lips against hers, tilting his head when she grabbed his face and deepened the kiss. It was sweet and heated at the same time, both leaning back when someone cleared their throat, who they don't know.

Kaleb smiled gently at her and stepped back. _If you need anything, Lucy, please tell us and you won't have to worry about it._

Kaleb stepped back and Lucy nodded her head, still not taking her eyes off his face. Mavis, he was so handsome, Lucy was sure she would never find anyone attractive anymore.

"Right... Can we go now that you are done sucking faces, blondie?" Laxus smirked at her and Lucy looked at him, blushing when everyone gave them an amused look.

"Yeah... Yeah, let's go." Her voice was barely above whispers and it took everything in Lucy not to touch her lips which were still tingling.

Freed hugged her last and Lucy waved at them as she settled in the car, followed by Laxus who grunted the moment the thing started moving. Taking his hand in her's, Lucy looked out of the window and sighed. Lucy had a mixed feeling about this trip. Either things could go great or just go south. She had so much planned for the trip and so little time.

It took them some time to reach the airdock and Lucy smiled and thanked Farron when he helped her out of the car, thinking about the first time her father took her on an Air carrier. He had recently bought one when she was eight and Lucy remembered spending the entire time with Mrs Spetto while her Dad showed off to his fellow business friends but Lucy remembers the time as well as yesterday. They had sailed over the sea and the tiny islands, the sunset and oh the clouds above had her feeling like she was in paradise.

She climbed up the ramp to the air carrier and her lips twitched at the nostalgic feeling, just like her first time. It looked like the same one her father owned but Lucy could only wait until it was up in the sky and she could look around to admire the beautiful ocean of Bosco and oh the mountains! Her father, for a travelling man, hated the nature and that was for sure. Maybe it started when he had the money in his pockets or maybe it was always there.

The happiest memories with her father are the ones in which her mom was also there. The mini-camps they set out in the gardens and the stargazing together, Lucy sitting in her papa's lap, tucked in a thick blanket with hot cocoa in her hand and listening to her mama telling her stories about each constellation. When her papa helped her sneak chocolates in her room even though mama always knew what the two were doing.

Him reading her bedtime stories, smiling when she had her dance lessons, laughing when she tried making cookies with him and mama. He was her Papa when her mom was there, but the day she lost her mom was the day she lost her dad too. He just became 'father' after that. Cold and distant who wanted to know more about her grades, who wanted a puppet instead of a daughter, someone who banned her from the kitchen or scolded her when she talked to the helpers, forbid her from going to the gardens, forbid her from doing magic. Lucy felt like she couldn't breathe in that house.

It was always rules and regulations. Don't walk like that, Don't talk like that. Don't dress up like that. See what you eat, see what you learn. Be with a particular class of people. It made her feel suffocated in the place where she once loved to live. The halls where her mom used to run after became the halls where she received her first tongue lashing. The dance room where her mother used to dance with her was the room where her father backhanded her the first time. The library where they spent entire nights reading books was the first place Lucy had her arm twisted around her back for talking back, leaving bruises for days.

She had stopped laughing, and when she did, it was with her spirits. She didn't have the heartache a child has when they leave home, instead, she planned her run away for months, smiling when she finally made it to the train station. She laughed when she met Natsu, She wore what she wanted to, Ate whatever she could, kissed someone who her father didn't pick for her. She had danced and partied, Lucy had the time of her life when she ran away from home and now, she was going to Fiore to do something for the man who she once called Papa.

Farron watched the blonde look into nothing really and heard her thoughts as clear as day, his frown deepening to the pain that she went throughout her childhood, a feeling of anger settling in at the abused memories and Farron would have gone to comfort her when a familiar buzz entered his head.

' _I don't think addressing the issue with her is the right thing to do, brother. If anything, according to Bickslow, Lucy might ignore it more than talk about it. It pains me that i can't talk to her right now. Her mind is a mess'_ Farron could feel the sigh his younger brother let out and looked back at Lucy who had moved away from the deck and went straight down the hall, where the rooms were. He bit his lips, watching her go, his concerns growing for the blonde.

 _If you are going to talk to her Kaleb, I say you hurry. I don't feel a bright girl like Lucy should still hang on to those dreadful memories._ Farron shot back softly, knowing his brother could hear him.

* * *

Lucy sat in a room which looked like a conference/meeting room and looked through the soundproof glass at Laxus who was giving her a narrowed eyed look and Lucy just smiled at him before taking the Lacrima Com out and put it in front of her, calling the contact info on it and fixed her shirt until the call connected.

"Ms Heartfilia. Just the call I was waiting for." The young man on the screen greeted her with a sincere smile and Lucy happily returned the gesture. "Captain Indivar, Sorry to keep you waiting, we left home relatively late." She set her hands on her lap and watched the brunette grab a bunch of paper and gave her a warm smile once again.

"Well, let me brief you with the recent events before we discuss anything. We managed to go down the trail you provided us with and, honestly Ms Heartfilia, you should come work with us." Indivar laughed and Lucy chuckled at his statement. "It was really fruitful. All the claims that we originally thought had no chance to prove, we now have solid evidence to support our claims. We have written testimonies of the head of the works department and all the workers included." he read from the reports and then sort of cringed.

"We do need your signatures on these papers and also the original documents you have about your privet matter. Her Majesty has all the other things sorted out as well and one thing we need more than ever now is the contracts." Looking at her Expectantly, Lucy smiled and pulled out a file, waving it in front of him.

"Oh, I got the contracts, the accounts, the original papers, ledgers and journals right here Captain. As for the papers, The Airship will be landing in crocus in four hours and I will be there by 9 Pm max." Lucy let out a long breath while the Captain had a twinkle in his eyes.

"We will pick you up from the Air Dock at 9. See you then Ms Heartfilia." Captain smiled at her and Lucy just winked, before pressing disconnect. She put her head on the table nd took deep breaths. She couldn't believe she was going to do this.

Right before Tartaros, Lucy had received a letter from her father's former steward Jacob who had sent her copies of account details and her father's official journal and the last letter her father had written to her.

She didn't know how to feel about the letter at first. She was mad when she did read it, but then, in the celestial world, Lucy had a...change of heart.

 _Dear Lucy,_

 _I know that you might hate me but i don't hold it against you if you do. When I lost Layla, every time I looked at you I saw her. I failed to keep her promise to keep you happy but every time I saw you, I always saw how you were a copy of your mother. It pained me to be near you and not think about her._

 _I know, I was a horrible parent and I don't deserve your forgiveness. I don't even know if you will ever get this letter, but if the gods heard my prayer and you do, I have one last request from you my daughter. You can ignore it altogether but please read it once before you decide anything._

 _I am dying. I may not be ill anymore but i know my time to join your mother is coming closer. If possible, I request that you would bring justice to the Heartfilia name. It may sound selfish of me but I know I won't be there to enjoy the reward of your efforts, lucy._

 _When you left to escape me and our house, I noticed how our accounts had started failing. There were small withdrawals which were not noticeable at first but when I did notice, we had already been declared Bankrupt. At that time, Duke Sawarr Junelle had put a new contract when he could not marry you and Jacob has the original one with him. He wanted partnership in the company, a compensation for not marrying you and i agreed to try to save the business with him._

 _I didn't realise that it was him who was stealing from me. I know none of this matters to you anymore and you want nothing to do with business anymore, but all i ask for is to get back the dignity of your mother's name, Lucy. You may give the money to a charity or do whatever you want with it, but please consider before you make your decision._

 _I do hope you will do well in life my little Lucy. I am sorry for all that i put you through, I am sorry for being a terrible father._

 _Forgive me, my daughter._

 _Yours truly_

 _papa._

Lucy had cried for hours after reading that letter. She thought about every memory, every nightmare her father put her through and Lucy hated him. Hated him for everything he did, but she couldn't hate him enough to tear his last letter. She couldn't hate him enough when she decided that she was going to fulfil his last wish.

A part of her mind had reminded her that if she had married Sawarr then he would still have been there, rich enough to afford the treatment but she hated that part for making her think about marrying that perverted old man. She was going to give him his last wish, because no matter how much he made her cry, Lucy could never hate him.

So here she was, planning to kick the man to the curb just like he did with her father.

She read her father's accounts with the utmost attention, marking every unofficial withdrawal, dates and time, making every connection she could before she approached the Princess of Fiore. Heartfilia being the part of the seven original families of the royal court, Lucy had the legal, royal advantage to ask for an investigation to be launched in the matter and it only turned in her favour when Hisui had admitted that they were trying to look into Sawarr accounts for charges on smuggling and cruelty towards workers.

Lucy had joined the process when Hisui had told her that she would be a part of the investigation and with the evidence she had, Lucy proposed that she represents the case in front of the council since she did have a law degree. She had spent days and nights over every document given to her and smiled when she prepared her case.

 _This_ was why she was filled with the feeling she had when she put council members to their place.

Lucy was going to destroy this man and she had a feeling she was going to enjoy it.

* * *

The Guildhall was sort of boring without Lucy and Ever sighed, taking a sip from her mimosa and leaned against the table. She worried about the blonde sometimes but honestly, it made her smile too when she thought about what a force Lucy actually was. Her lips tipped up thinking about that one time she sent Natsu flying through the Guildhall when he poked her butt, claiming it had gotten fat. That idiot had it coming.

Giggling as she took a sip when she remembered Grey's reaction and how fast he had moved away from the angry blonde and ignored Bickslow who gave her a funny look. Lucy was easy to love and Evergreen hated herself for the time she thought she was nothing but a dumb bimbo. How wrong she was.

The first time Lucy showed her intelligence at the guild in front of the Raijinshu was when she made Master cry and Ever couldn't keep another giggle from tumbling out of her lips making Bickslow take the glass out of her hand.

"Okay, I think you are drunk." The seith mage watched her friend frown at him but she had a small smile on her face anyways.

"Give it back you dumbass. I was just thinking about the time Lucy made Master cry." She snatched her drink back from his hands and watched him grin himself before he started laughing. Vander who was sitting next to Bickslow raised an amused eyebrow at them and asked. " She made Kaleb cry?" joking when Ever rolled her eyes but giggled.

"No! She made Master Makarov cry dummy." fanning her face she chuckled while Bixy told him the story.

"Man, it was hilarious. We had just come back from a fucking insane S-class mission and came to report back to Master when he told Laxus that he has paperwork pending and to finish it. Laxus was all pissed off because he was dead tired and you know growled and shit but went to his office anyway. Cosplay was using his Lacrima computer to finish the accounts for the guild when Laxus came in. Next thing the guild knows is Lucy carrying Master by his ear to Laxus's office and scolding him for slacking and pushing shit for Bossman to do and threatened to burn him porn collection if he didn't finish the work by tomorrow. She even told him that she won't write another letter to the council about false accusations and do any of his legal work if Master didn't do his work. It was everything." Both Bickslow and Evergreen were laughing thinking about that day and Evergreen felt a tug in her heart for some reason.

Lucy had this way with people. She didn't have to share her sob story with people to bring them closer to her. She was such a warm person that people were genuinely attracted to her. She, on the other hand, was different.

People were scared of her magic ever since she was a child. They thought that she would turn them into stone when they looked in her eyes and that's why she had been so lonely when she came to Fairytail. That was until Laxus added her to his team and she meets Bix and Freed.

People were always wary of them because of their eye magic. Elfman was the first male Ever had been with. He was her first love, her idiot, her 'man' her everything but then he tossed her aside when his sister asked him to and Ever was heartbroken. She gave him everything, her love, her first time and even stayed behind while her team was here in Bosco. Her heart shattered at how easy it was for him to forget her. She cried for days, sobbed in Lucy's apartment when the Blonde consoled her, trying to soothe her pain, but Evergreen did feel the hurt everytime she thought about him.

She wonders if she was ever going to find someone who loved her for who she was.

"Hey. Where you wander off to?" Bickslow bumped her shoulder and Evergreen looked up, startled, so lost in thoughts that she didn't even see the new person join their little corner.

"Ever, meet Presca. He is Van's best buddy and Presca, meet Evergreen. Don't piss her off or she will turn you into stone." Bickslow rolled his tongue out and Ever hit him on his head with her fan, huffing before turning, her dark brown eyes meeting grey ones.

"Nice to meet you." She put her hand forward for a handshake and felt a shiver rake through her spine when his rough hands enclosed her soft ones. His Steely eyes looked cold, like her's but there was something about them that made her shiver. She withdrew her hand before she felt all those emotions and just smiled at him from her seat.

"Nice to meet you too, Evergreen." His deep voice made her stomach churn and Evergreen looked away from those gorgeous eyes so he won't see the pink on her cheeks.

* * *

When the Airship touched the dock at Crocus, Laxus put his arm on Lucy's shoulder to hold her back for a few seconds, Motioning Farron to continue while he talked to her. Lucy smiled at him and Laxus felt his dragon rumble in his chest and he leaned down to rub his forehead to her's, the only sort of affection he showed her in public and Lucy smiled.

"If anything happens, call me. I don't care how stupid it is, but please call me." He leaned back and watched her nod and smile at him again. "I will try not to get in any sort of trouble." She grinned at him and Laxus rolled his eyes. Lucy knew that he was probably not trying to say all that in front of Farron in his car but she was hoping he won't react to seriously when she tells him she is not leaving with him.

They walked down the ramp and Lucy saw Farron glaring at the other car not parked too far away from them. Laxus followed his line of sight and growled before he pushed Lucy behind him. Rolling her eyes she pulled his sleeve and stopped in front of both of them.

"It's alright... That is...kind of...my ride." Smiling sheepishly at them, they both turned around to stare at them and Lucy held her hand up before either of them could utter a word. "No, just no. I am here for a reason and they are a part of it. You will just have to trust me." The last part was mainly directed to Laxus and Lucy gave him a look when he growled at her but stopped when Lucy looked at him unfazed.

"I will call you when i am at the hotel." She leaned up and pecked his cheek and then turned towards Farron who was frowning at her. "I will be fine, Farron. Good Luck with your trip." She kissed his cheek as well and walked past both of them, straight to the car, her heels ticking at the silence around her and she rolled her eyes at the eyes that followed her.

Knocking at the window, the door opened and Lucy looked in once before smiling and sliding in.

Dark brown eyes greeted her warmly and Lucy shook hands with the man in front. "Captain Indivar. Its a pleasure to meet you." Lucy smiled at him and Captain Indivar nodded his head and withdrew his hand as the car started moving. "Indeed, Ms Heartfilia. I am happy to meet the mastermind behind the entire investigation." Grinning back at her.

Throughout the car ride, they traded the little unofficial facts both knew about the man and Lucy was happy with the things they told her once she reached the hotel. The people she was working with were Hisui's personal intelligence team and they were definitely not going to take her to their base so they were discussing everything in the hotel Lucy was staying at.

"We need your signature on these papers and your statement paper. " Sliding a stack of papers in front of her, Lucy nodded and started reading them while they told her how the procedure was going to be conducted.

It took her an hour to read through all the papers and sign the papers and Lucy shook hands with Captain before he left.

"It's going to take us a day to get Sawarr in the court so relax tomorrow Lucy. When we have the Council's signature then you can tell you Guildmaster what is happening. I saw Ambassador Farron back there and I am sure they all are wondeing what is going on." with the warm words, Captain mockinglu saluted and left her for the night.

Sighing, Lucy went straight to the bathroom. After such a long day, she was in need of a shower. Mavis, tomorrow was going to be busy. She had to meet Hisui, then Cana and Levy and prepare for the day after tomorrow.

After dinner, Lucy was going to jump into bed and just go to sleep. She was tired to her bones.


	13. Chapter 13

There was a party atmosphere throughout the guild. Guildmembers on the dance floor enjoying the beat of the music as Christoff worked the guitar and Vander pumping the energy in the crowd by singing next to him, strip teasing and smirking when people cheered on. Evergreen sat on the table at the corner of the guild with Freed and Bickslow sitting next to her, the latter just returned from a privet bath.

Freed had his head in his hands and a small pout on his face, while Bickslow groomed his babies and Ever, on the other hand, was sitting on the table top and swinging her feet and smiling at Vander who twirled around on the stage jumping around at the sick beat of the music. She rolled her eyes when Freed sighed for the hundredth time and stood up with a huff. "Let's play a game!" She clapped her hand and looked at her best friends and watched Freed perk up a bit but Bickslow rolled his tongue out teasingly.

"Like what? Striptease? poker?" he laughs when Evergreen glared at him and huffed before hitting him with her fan. "No, you idiot! We can play something like...um...like UNO!" clapping her hand Ever nodded and smiled at the idea and Freed frowned for a second but then hmmed.

"I would like that." the green-haired mage sat up straight and both looked at Bickslow who groaned at their puppy do expression and then sighed.

"Fine... I'll get the card." he got up from the table, his babies following him and Ever high fived Freed.

Finally, when Bickslow got the cards, he was going to ask Vander or Chris if they wanted to join but saw Christoff being pushed against the wall by a brunette who had her hand down his pants and then at Vander who was pushed inside one of the private booths by a red-haired guy.

Shrugging his shoulder he sat at the end of the bench and smiled slightly at Ever as she rubbed her hands together, getting ready to play. Once he distributed the cards the three mages were bound to turn into enemies from friends.

After three matches, people near them rooted for who they thought was going to win the next round, entertained that everytime Bickslow gave Ever a drawcard she would glare at him until the second round where she turned him into stone and huffed when Freed tried to convince her to let him go so they can play.

Vander joined them after a while, only watching when a laughing Freed threw two draws four cards in front of Bickslow and laughed at the look of hate on his brother's face.

"Oh...You are going to regret this!" growling, he watched his smirk grow and Evergreen looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Fuck you bitch!" jumping on the table, he slammed one draw four and two yellow draw two cards on the table and watched Evergreen glower at him before she stared deep in his eyes and Bickslow turned into Stone once again.

Laughter surrounded the tables near them and Freed just sighed and put his head in his hands. Huffing Evergreen got up from the table and stomped to the bar and grabbed the pen lying there, before marching back and climbed right on the table and scribbled 'I am a dick' on Bix's forehead, making Vander bend over in laughter when she drew a dick on both his cheeks and sat down, letting him go, watching Bickslow look confused when people were gasping for air around him.

Presca watched from the bar, smiling so slightly that it was hardly noticeable but he was amused a great deal by Vander's brother and his team. He had yet to meet the other two, Laxus and Lucy who have gone to Fiore with Farron, but the three alone were quite entertaining to watch.

An amused chuckle made way out of him when Evergreen smirked and played on as if nothing happened, this time joined by Vander who insisted he wanted to play too.

* * *

Cursing and blushing, Lucy got out of the car that Captain Indivar had arranged for her, Lucy mentally groaned seeing the line of reporters and journalists outside the palace and bites her lip, hating that Hisui forgot to tell her that she had a function at the Palace, But Lucy figured that the Princess forgot since the Gala was all over the newspaper for months.

Thank God the Captain had arranged a dress for her and apologised last minute, saying he forgot to ask her about it last night. She sighed and stepped out of the car, flashlights focused on her and she smiled a very trained smile at them and took Captain Indivar's hand who looked dashing in his knight uniform. Lucy, herself was wearing a silver backless dress which narrowed down on her waist and had a slit on the left side. Her hair was done up in a very elegant Bun and her new guild mark sitting proudly on her shoulder.

She had already contacted the princess and told her that it was a quick in and out for her because she had other plans for the day and Hisui had smiled at her over the come and told her it was alright. "It would take us a while to get the Princess to the side, but I am sure she would have time to get the last bit of papers done," Indivar whispered in her ear and Lucy nodded and smiled at him, both entering the palace, with the captain's hand on her back, careful to not touch skin.

Lucy was familiar with the place, coming here so often after the eclipse and she walked straight to the ballroom, smiling politely at the politicians, people she met before she ran away from home, Ignoring the ladies who looked at her like she was below them and looked around, hoping to get it done as soon as she could so she could meet Cana.

She heard hushed whispers as she walked past the group of high society ladies and smiled when they commented about her dress being to reviling.

"Did we get the councils permission about the legal contraction papers?" She turned to look at Indivar and saw him looking around too, not stopping his search for the Princess himself since he had a lot of paperwork to take care off still before tomorrow.

"Yes, Councilman said that you can share the information with your guild master and team members but not the media just yet." He mumbled so only she could hear what he had to saw and pulled her hand to where he saw a glimpse of green hair but stopped short when it turned out to be another person.

Lucy, on the other hand, straightened her back, Familiar blue eyes looking straight at her and she made sure her face was passive of any emotions as the man walked closer towards her. "Ms Heartfilia. A surprise seeing you here. I thought you and _my son_ were in Bosco with his salvage team." His lips had a cold snarl on them and Lucy smiled at him.

"Lord Justine. A _pleasure_ seeing you here. I thought you were in Seven trying to revive your dying business." tilting her head to the side her smile grew when he visibly gritted his teeth and glared at her.

"You were a fine lady, Ms Heartfilia, but i guess being surrounded by uncultured vermins have robbed you of your upbringing." He spat at her as politely as he could but Lucy only laughed, a genuine one that too.

"Just like your pride robbed you of your son." She grinned at him and took the laughing Captain's hand, smirking when the lord became red with anger in front of her. Bowing down gracefully she smiled shark like at him. "Have a wonderful day, m'lord." She moved past him, a satisfied look on her face as other lords and Ladies moved out of her way. She sighed when she finally saw Hisui and brisk walked towards her.

"Lucy! I was wondering when you would be here!" Hisui took both her hands and pulled her for a hug and Lucy smiled, though she was laughing at the faces of people around them, many she knew.

"Sorry for being late, Hisui, but someone forgot to tell me about a function at their place. You look beautiful by the way." She giggled at the bashful expression on the princess's face But Lucy did love her dress. The princess wore an orangish bronze princess dress and her hair was let down elegantly with her Tiara in place. Lucy looked down and grinned at the man who Lucy had gotten close to in a very short period of time.

"Mato-san!" She giggled when the king blushed at the nickname but smiled at her. "You look beautiful, my child." Lucy bends down so he could pat her shoulder like he did everytime Lucy met him. "You look quite dashing yourself, sire." she smiled at the old king once again before standing up and giving Hisui a meaningful look.

"Right. Please Excuse us Father, Lucy, Captain and I have a few things to take care of." Hisui Bowed down and the three moved across the hall, followed by each and every set of eyes, some astonished at the closeness between the royal family and Heartfilia's daughter, but one stood in the back, eyes narrowed at the blonde.

His curiosity about what was happening here was eating him alive.

* * *

It took the princess a few minutes to sign the papers and she gave Lucy another set of files before she left. Both Lucy and Captain leaned back sighing, both thinking about how busy today is going to be. Indivar stood up first and pulled Lucy up, smiling when the Blonde groaned. "Gods, I hate these events," muttering she followed him out of the privet setting room before pulling his arm and pointing in the other direction.

"Let's leave from here. We will double around the ballroom and get out quickly." She started walking, sending the file to the spirit world and lead both of them out, smiling when Indivar arranged to get the car around and laughed when Lucy took her heels off as they were almost out.

After that, It took them half an hour to reach her hotel, Captain Indivar shaking hands with her before Lucy walked inside, cursing when he saw the time. It was 3:00 pm and Lucy promised to meet Cana and Levy at 3:15 at Cana's apartment. She hurriedly took off her dress and threw on the first simple dress she found and simple sandals before wiping her face off makeup and just putting on a gloss, leaving her hair be.

She ran back down, amusing the receptionist and quickly hailed a cab, and groaned looking at the time she finally arrived at the building. When she finally got in her building, the excitement took over her body and she rushed up the stairs, her cheeks hurting from smiling so hard as she knocked on the door and before the brunette could say anything, Lucy threw herself on her, hugging her close, giggling when Cana laughed but emotioned building up in her chest.

She stepped back a bit and smiled a watery smile, a little surprised to see the tears in Cana's eyes already. "I missed you girl." Lucy chuckled when Cana hugged her again and swayed in the same place, her head resting on her friend's shoulder.

"Hey! What about me?!" An amused but choked up voice carried over them and Lucy fell over with a laugh, grabbing Cana's hand and making her fall over too when Levy jumped on her, hugging her blue-haired friend close to her. A few happy tears slipped down their cheeks but it was very bittersweet for Lucy to meet them. She wondered that if this was how it was going to be? Do they only meet when she came to Fiore or they came to Bosco?

Shaking her head she ignored the thought and took Cana's hand who helped her up. They were going to sit on the dining table first but Levy suggested that they could cuddle on the couch, So Lucy slipped her shoes off and smiled at both her friends and patted the seats next to her. For the next hour, they talked about everything that happened during Tartaros, Levy talking what happened when they were unconscious in the black water and between Torafuzar, Lucy telling them about Aquarius, this time crying with her friends as she relived the memory, then about her time in the spirit world before she joined White Sea.

"It... it was hard to accept that it was that easy for Erza and Grey to forget about me or for Natsu to leave before even meeting me for the last time. I...I mean I know that he lost Igneel once again but if he had said goodbye I would have been fine about it." a bitter laugh bubbled up and she shook her head.

"But other than that, I am fine. Laxus and the others were there for me as soon as i came back and I guess...I just needed...reassurance." mumbling she sighed before shaking her head. "Enough about me. How is everything back in Fiore?" She looked at Cana first who grinned at her.

"I am good. I miss Fairytail a lot and everything, but seriously, I think i am fine too." She looked away when both Levy and Lucy gave her a look but seeing the expression on her face, both let it go for now. "What about you bluebird? how's Gajeel?" She smirked at Levy and watched a floating look of Pain pass her eyes.

"Levy?" Lucy touched her shoulder softly and watched the blue haired mage look away from them.

"I...Um...Gajeel...and I are...we.." She bit her lip and looked down at her lap and whispered..."We broke up." She felt tears well up in her eyes and Lucy and Cana quickly to hug her, frowning at each other when Levu sniffed.

"What happened?" Lucy whispered and Levy tried not to look at them and spoke almost inaudibly.

"After we joined the council...I...I asked Gajeel if I was his mate and him...He said that he didn't want to hurt me and...and that he had hoped i was...that when we came in a relationship I was his supposed mate, that he was waiting for his dragon to give him a sign..." Tears streaked down her face and a small sob escaped her lips. "And...He said that we can still be together...he stills loves me...but i was so mad...so mad." Her body was shaking hard and Lucy frowned, not liking where this was going. Lucy knew Levy, she knew that even if sweet and delicate, Levy had impulsive reactions when she got mad.

"What did you, Levy?" Cana whispered as if she was herself afraid of the answer. "I...sle...slept with Jet."

There was impenetrable Silence in the room for a few minutes, the only sound was of Levy sobbing. "I...I didn't mean to! We...we were at the bar and it happened! I don't know how...but i really didn't mean to!" She sobbed in her hands and Lucy and Cana shared a look. Cana could see Lucy was Pissed because being Kin to a dragon is a two-way thing. They are not the only ones who are protective.

"Where is Gajeel?" she asked through gritted teeth, trying not to let the impulse take over her emotions at the moment. Levy looked at her, her eyes puffy and red but with a whimper, she answered, "On a mission right after everything happened." She whispered and Lucy closed her eyes. She had to stay calm for her friend but she really had no idea how to console her or not Judge her.

Hell, Gajeel was the sweetest guy out there. He was tough and reserved but so observant and protective of the people he cared about.

"Levy...I...I can't say that it was not your fault...but what I can say is...Gajeel should have told you that you were not his mate." Lucy started slowly and looked at Cana who just shrugged her shoulder, as lost as she was. "But...he was ready to be with you, you know. He loved you." She couldn't help but let the spark of anger enter her voice, but sighed when Levy continued crying. Mavis, why did the Gods have to put her in a position where she had to choose between a Kin and her best friend.

Granted she knew Levy longer that she knew Gajeel, but she shared a bond with the dragon. She was pissed, no doubt, but she couldn't just lash out on Levy like that. Gods she prayed Gajeel was okay. Mate or not, he loved Levy a lot.

This was going to be a mess to deal with.

For a happy reunion, it turned out to be quite sad. Cana had left to get ice cream from the nearby store and Lucy decided that it was better to ignore the topic than talk about it. She did wonder if Levy was in relation with Jet but tried not to think too much about the situation. When Cana came back, Lucy helped her in the kitchen, both didn't say anything until Cana giggled and Lucy couldn't hold back a laugh herself.

Levy looked at them with hurt and Lucy shook her head. "we are not laughing at you, Levy. Its just... we are always dealing with something." she looked at Cana and her and finally Levy smiled, a watery one but a smile neither the less. They switched on a comedy movie but only Cana was watching, Lucy and Levy eating their ice cream and Lucy cursed when he Lacrima lit up and she pushed both her friends out of the frame before answering the call.

"Hello, Starfire." The deep baritone echoed in Cana's living room and Lucy Blushed when Cana stared at her with her mouth wide open but the mischief clear in her eyes. A giggle left Levy when Lucy kicked Cana's leg and smile innocently at Vander who was smirking at her.

"Vander...Hi..what can i do for you?" She pushed her hair out of the way and groaned at the smirk on the shadowquip mage's face. "Share pleasures with me when you come back to Bosco. I promise i will have you screaming my name all night." he winked at her and she tried to keep a calm face but groaned when Levy and Cana looked at the handsome hunk on the screen with open mouths, but Cana was rubbing her thighs together at how sexy he sounded.

"I am sure I can manage. Why did you call?" Lucy shook her head and Vander sighed. "One day Starfire, I am going to get you," he growled and Lucy saw Cana open her mouth but she was quick and threw a pillow on her face and shot her a glare. "What do you want Van?" she turned her glare towards him and he held his hands up and Lucy waited of him to say something.

"Well...to be honest...I was bored and no one was there to prank so I thought I should call you to know you always have time for me." he leaned against his hand and Lucy saw he was shirtless and groaned when Cana choked on her spit.

"Van...I will kill you." she sighed and watched his smile grow and huffed and cut the call. That idiot.

"Holy shit Lucy..." Cana breathes out and Lucy gave her a deadpan look.

"Don't start."

* * *

Her heart was thumping painfully against her chest while she got ready. It was finally the day Lucy had been waiting for months and she felt like she was going to puke at the nervous feeling in her stomach.

She wore a tight skin tan short dress, which clung to her figure and ended right above her keens and white stilettos and pulled her hair in a ponytail. Doing a very natural makeup routine, Lucy put on some gloss, determined to look her best when she destroyed the man she truly hated. She grabbed her purse and opened her door, taking the elevator downstairs, her head held up, a cold expression on her face and Lucy shivered thinking how she looked like her father when she saw her face in the mirror on the Elevators walls.

She saw Captain and his team right in front and Lucy smiled and shook hands with all of them, the whole group was buzzing with adrenalin, all excited to see their hard work play today in the court. Lucy realised that the vehicle arranged were of the royal household and she saw another car with guards behind them. She somewhat regretted not telling Kaleb and her friends about what was going down today but she felt that she should let the whole thing happen and tell them later once she was done.

One the way to the Magic Council, Lucy and Indivar went over every detail once again and the others chimed in once in a while. She felt her heart in her throat by the time they were in front of the building and Lucy thought that this was the first time she was actually representing a case. She stepped out first and Captain followed her, telling her his team need to get the procedure started, and Lucy walked beside him, mentally smiling as she walked past the remaining six families of the royal court and smiled at Lady Esna who glared at her and Lucy brushed past them, ignoring the uncertain look on many faces.

She went straight to the secluded area of the council building and stood in front of the door, leaning against the railing, arms crossed over her chest when she saw him. Duke Sawarr Junelle and internally shuddered at the stream of unpleasant memories that flooded her mind but patted her back for remaining as cold as she could.

When she first met him, he has immediately declared his love for her and Lucy had felt sick to her stomach, when he took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, rubbing her thumb over the back of her palm. The time her father had told her to spend time with him and Lucy cringed mentally thinking about how he tried touching inappropriately every time they were alone to a point where he tried to force a kiss on her while claiming his love over and over again.

She lifted her head and was surprised to see a young female beside him glaring at her and Lucy figured that she was his wife. Meeting the glares unfazed she smiled when the young wife looked away and Lucy looked back at Sawarr who was leering looking at her making her shiver in disgust. Fucking Pervert.

"I see why you hate him." Indivar leaned down and whispered and Lucy looked up at him to see the amusement swimming in his eyes. She grinned at him and stood straighter, watching Sawarr like a hawk as he walked closer towards them, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes slightly at him, looking casual yet cold for people to see. The est of the six families were not far behind them, watching their exchange for _high society gossip._

"If you had just married me, we would never be seeing this day." Sawarr gave her a snobbish look and Lucy scoffed but then smiled. "I would rather jump in a pit of fire and stay there for the rest of my life than marry you." Her voice was filled with poison and cold fury seeped through her eyes, freezing Sawarr for a second before he snarled back at her. "Then why don't you jump into the pit of fire and not try to enter the high society once again." He felt like he hit a sore point when Lucy's face went emotionless again but everyone around them was surprised when she spoke next.

"Believe me Sawarr, I don't want to get back to the high society ever again. I am very happy being a mage and, to be honest with you, I am here to destroy you." She smiled at the slight fear in his eyes and turned around taking a few steps back and waiting for the doors to be opened, ignoring the stares she still received or Captain who praised her for her words but Lucy felt a weight lift off her chest.

She heard the comments, read the articles where people assumed that Lucy Heartfilia was trying to return to her old life once again, but honestly, she can't wait to see their faces when the case is announced.

"Lucy!" A happy voice called out her name and Lucy laughed at the disgusted faced people made around her as Cana swayed through the crowd in her bikini top and tight jeans, but no booze in her hands. "Cana." she hugged her friend and snickered when her best friend whispered in her ear. "I don't know what is going on here but if I get to drop jaws, sign me up." Both stepped back and Lucy took Cana's hand.

"Thanks for being here." She smiled at her and Cana hooked her arm around her shoulder. "No problem girl! As long as i get to record you being scary Lucy, I am down. Its a turn on, let me tell you." Both girls chuckled at the offended faces that the ladies made, but ignored them neither the less.

The door finally opened and Lucy, Captain and Cana waited until everyone was in. Once she entered that room, she would not be Lucy of Fairytail or White Sea but Lucy Heartfilia daughter of Jude Heartfilia. Maybe for once, she will wear pride in the name.

"All the best Lucy." Indivar patted her shoulder and Lucy smiled though she could feel the nervousness course through her body. Cana didn't know what was happening but she hugged her friend neither the less. Both walked in the vintage room, Cana whistled at the balconies where the Royal ministers sat and two black windows which Lucy explained were the rooms where Royal Family sat, away from the public eye but present at the hearing.

Pointing at the seat right behind her, She told Cana that she had a front-row show making the brunette chuckled. ' _Virgo'_ Lucy whispered the name and smiled when people gasped when the pink hair made suddenly made an entrance in the room, keeping a stack of neatly arranged files on the table and bowing down before disappearing.

'T _hank you, Virgo.'_ She sent the message through the link she had with her spirits and felt an acknowledging nod.

Looking straight up, she saw the three chairs in front of her, the judgement of the case was going to be the royal court Chancellor and below him would be sitting two judges from the magic council. Captain Indivar was sitting next to her and she ignored the glares she got from Sawarr's lawyers.

All raised minutes later when the three authorities entered the room and Lucy could feel the nervousness mix with adrenalin when the room was asked to settle in.

"Prosecutor, Lucy Heartfilia representing Personal and public case against defendant Duke Sawarr Junelle for implied charges of Criminal Deception and contractual fraud, planned Conspiracy, theft, preknowledge of market sale, Grand Larceny and second-degree Felony, along with public interest accusations of smuggling and drug trafficking, Cruelty towards workers and tax evasion." The chancellor looked up from the papers and raised his eyebrows at Sawarr and Lucy smiled. Oh, the fun has just begun.

There were murmurs in the courtroom and Cana snorted a laugh and Lucy gave her a look to shut up. "Silence in the room." The female judge glared at the crowd and started speaking.

"Defendant will have a chance to defend the claims made against him once the prosecutor finished until then, withhold all the questions for later." She looked at Sawarr's lawyer and Lucy enjoyed the fact that the man was sweating already.

"Prosecutor please rise and present the draft of the official request." The third Judge spoke and Lucy pulled out the papers from the first file and stood up, her heels ticking in the silent room and handed it to the bench clerk and stood there waiting for it to be signed.

"Alright. Prosecutor may begin, the defendant, please relocate yourself to the stand. " the chancellor motioned Lucy to start and she nodded, waiting until Sawar was in the stand.

"Thank you, Chancellor and council members. Representing the case on a personal level and public interest, I hope I am able to instal all the evidence to you properly." Lucy nodded once again when she got an encouraging nod and walked to the middle of the room.

"Starting on June 2nd 784, the defendant and my father, Late Jude Heartfilia entered into an illegal contract regarding my marriage, when I was still 16 and legally unfit to give consent in legal matters. In the same contract, Duke Sawarr invested 20 per cent in Heartfilia Business, but when the contract was pulled after I _left_ that life to joined Fairytail, Junelle lost up to 12million jewels which he would have earned once we were married." Pulling out the original contract she gave it to the BC (Bench Clerk) and put the first file away. She watched the people in the room squirm knowing how it was such a common practise to marry young daughters.

"These are the bases I will be building my case on, because after Phantom Lord, on 4th August 784, Jude and Sawarr entered another contract, this time it had three conditions to it. While my father demanded that he still had rights over the operation of building railways, full discloser of the business and 50 per cent ownership, Sawarr demanded the same with a request that his personal accountant Darron Spence be appointed at the Heartfilia estate." Once again, handing over the contract to the BC and watching Sawarr's skin glisten with sweat.

"October 13th 784, a false projection account was set up where the original account details and official transactions were shown to hide the _real_ account where the first illegal transaction of 170,000 was made. On further investigation, we discovered that neither my father nor our family steward Jacob had any idea as no records of this transaction were lodged in their journals, ledgers or even privet bank booklets." Lucy handed the original bank printouts and the rest of the stuff for the judges to read, taking a sip of water, letting the three go through the papers one by one.

She looked up at the glass window, feeling like someone was drilling holes in her head but maybe she was wrong.

Clearing her throat, Lucy pulled out her best weapon and smiled too sweetly and Junelle. "We needed official permission to search into Sawarr's accounts and business soon request, Princess Hisui appointed an investigation team to the matter." The murmurs were back and even the chancellor looked up from his papers to look at her and Lucy lifted the official permission letter.

"Every month, for the next one and a half year, the same amount was taken out of the Heartfilia account and transferred to an offshore account in the country of Joya. After following the money trail through electronic transmission, the account was linked to an account in Fiore, under the name, Junelle." Her eyes shifted to the wife who had her mouth wide open but Lucy knew that she was not unaware of what had happened.

"The last transaction was made just when my Father realised it was too late and was already declared bankrupt. Duke Sawarr Junelle had pre-knowledge to the market, knowing the business was going to be sold to the highest bidder and bought it the very same day it was sold." Lucy leaned against the table, watching the judges go over every new document that was provided to them, Every account detail on Junelle, his tax returns, his income, who he bribed, all his offshore accounts, all his unexplainable earnings. She looked at Cana and smiled when she gave her a dazed but amazing look with a big smile and thumbs up.

"Please continue, Ms Heartfilia." Chancellor motioned her to start and Lucy picked up the second last file.

"Once the investigation was started, Captain Indivar and his team looked more into his dealings with Joya and other countries and found evidence of his dealing with war queen, trading money for illegal artefacts, exporting and importing drugs such as R-2, Roach-2, cherry meth and gamma 10 which are also known as rape drugs and providing safe drugs smuggling passage for traders through the railway network." Pulling out two photos of the said transaction and went for the final blow, ready to finish this whole thing off.

"They found the poor working conditions the workers were kept in, without safety precaution, enough wages and food. No signs of medics on construction sights and have written evidence from workers and work managers to support the claims. My appeal to the court is to keep the facts and evidence in mide as they make a decision. Thank you." Bowing, Lucy took a deep breath and sat back in her seat.

' _Holy shit!_ She breathes out, feeling like the pressure she had on her was lifted. One less thing to worry about. She really didn't care if she won or lost. She fulfilled her Father's wish by trying.

Cana Patted her back and Lucy smiled at her, genuinely feeling relieved.

"Defendant Sawarr Junelle, Do you proceed to deny the accusations made against you or do you accept the charges that have been made against you?" Chancellor looked the sweating mess, and Lucy cringed at the sight of his wet clothes.

"I...I..er..." Sawarr looked at his lawyer who was staring at Lucy with an open mouth making her smile. If he denied and an investigation was launched against him, he was in for life, but if he confessed he would be in for 16 years max. After a pained silence, finally Junelle answered and both lucy and Indivar let out a happy breath. "I...Plead guilty." The words were meek but Lucy didn't miss the glare in her direction and just grinned at the man.

"Sawarr Junelle, You are stripped of your title as a member of the royal court, charged with second-degree Felony, theft, planned conspiracy, criminal and contractual deception, Grand larceny, illegal trading, smuggling, tax evasion and cruelty. The royal court and council of Magic sentence you to 18 years of imprisonment, along with compensation to Ms Lucy Hearfilia by returning her the exact amount that your stole along with her father's business, property and assets you obtained. The court refuses any deals to reduce the sentence. The court is adjourned!"

People started moving and Lucy yelped when Indivar pulled her in for a bear hug and Lucy laughed. She felt her throat clog up with emotions when he set her down.

"I am proud of you Lucy. You were incredible!" he grinned at her and Lucy herself smiled brightly back at him. "I couldn't have done it without you, Indivar. Thank you." Leaning up she placed a soft kiss on his cheek and giggled when he blushed.

Cana was Next and Lucy hugged her friend with all her might and whispered. "I can't believe i did it." She choked up but Cana laughed next to her ear. " _I_ can't believe you did it! Fuck Yeah!" She laughed when Lucy giggled and smiled brightly at her friend. "The only thing i am wondering is... are you going to take care of your business now?" Frowning at the Blonde, Lucy just smiled and shook her head.

"My business is not over yet." She stepped out of their hold and looked at the mage waiting for her.

"I will see you in the evening. I need to go meet Hisui." scratching her neck, Lucy smiled nervously at her friend but Cana just nodded. "No worries. We are going to drink and find some hot guys for tonight!" Cana winked at her and Lucy shook her head amused. This girl...

She stepped closer to the mage who put his hand on her shoulder and in a second she disappeared from the room to be in a new one. She smiled at Hisui and His majesty Toma-san but blanched seeing the three people behind them.

"W...wait! What are you guys going here!?" gaping at the three male in front of her Lucy closed her eyes when they smiled at her.

 _We couldn't just miss this day Lucy. I must say, I am seriously impressed and proud off you. You have no idea how happy i am to know you are my mage._ The smooth voice purred in her head adn Lucy felt her whole body turn red.

"Kaleb and Dad joined me in Fiore. They were intrigued when i recieved the invitation by Princess this case." Farron smiled at her But Lucy saw the look he had in his eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

Embarrassed was not the word or the emotion Lucy felt right now. She was going through a ton of mixed feelings. There was happiness and pride, sadness and disgust when she thought about her past and again, embarrassment. Hisui was giggling behind her and Lucy looked down at her feet and closed her eyes for just a second. She didn't know how she felt about the three men in front of her watching her do what she was _trained_ for by her father.

"I apologise for not informing you beforehand, my dear, about our visit but I can't say I regret doing so. You did an amazing job today, Lucy and we are just as proud as your friends are." With a silvery tone in his voice, Arman put his hand on Lucy's shoulder as she looked at him and Lucy couldn't help but smile.

"It's alright...I guess. I would have told you about it if I didn't feel that this...whole thing was a part of my old life before I Joined Fairytail." she tried to keep the smile on her face with the memories that kept on resurfacing in her mind.

"I don't think you should let this be a part of your old life, Lucy. You are a very strong, intelligent woman, one of the few I fear in the shortest amount of time I have known you."Farron frowned, standing next to his brother who every time Lucy looked at him her heart skipped a beat.

 _I agree with Dad and Farron Lucy. You are, by far, one of the few mages I have who have both strength and brains as well as is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous. I must admit, watching you down there tear a man apart with such grace and ease, I am a fan._ Kaleb grinned at her, loving the way her cheeks turned pink and her eyes smothered a bit. He would have kissed her the moment she entered the room but they were present with the royal family of Fiore so he will just have to kiss her later.

"I...Right." Lucy cleared her throat to the amusement of others and Looked at Hisui. "We should finish the whole thing right now." She clapped her hands and sighed. She was already tired but had so much work to do.

"Yes, Of course. Council members are finishing the paperwork as we speak so we should start on the other documents." The princess's casual expression changed into a professional one and both started moving towards the exit to leave for the Palace when Farron fell in steps with her.

"You won't mind me asking what you are doing now, would you? Watching you handle things like this I can only ask to reconsider my offer to join the embassy." Smiling down at her Lucy laughed and shook her head. Her skin tingled when Kaleb walked on her other side, close enough to be in her personal space. Arman was next to Farron with a serene smile on his face.

"Well...once we had all the evidence which was going to show what happened between my father and Sawarr and I would get back everything he stole since I am the hire of Heartfilia business, I made a deal with His Majesty that I would sell him the railway business because I want to keep being a mage and he can have a monopoly over the whole market. In exchange, He will help me turn Heartfilia Konzern into a resort vacation place." Lucy pulled her hair out of her Ponytail, feeling a headache build up and ran her hand through her hair.

"But how are you going to manage your business in Fiore when you are in Bosco?" Frowning, Arman questioned, not liking the idea that Lucy might shift back.

"I already have a team ready. Jacob, our family Steward would be in charge of the whole thing and he will keep updating me. I can check things here every three months. In fact, You should come with me tomorrow to see the estate. I could use some advice." Smiling, Lucy looked at all three of them and grinned when they all nodded.

Kaleb watched, mesmerised as Lucy sat there with the princess of Fiore, legs crossed at the ankle and biting the pen while reading through the papers while listening to what the royal adviser was telling her about the deals and he felt his calm expression crack while Farron choked on his tea when they announced the worth of her father's business.

The turnover for the railway in Fiore for the half year was more than 50 trillion jewels. (1000 Jewels= 1Usd so it's basically 50billion Usd) Even Arman was shocked by this revelation but Lucy had just nodded her head and kept on reading the paper in her hand when she finally signed it and went to the next one.

The signing over after the deals were set was quick and Lucy had asked Hisui to bind it in a Celestial contract too, knowing the princess would be bound by magic. The king had pulled them aside while Lucy and Princess were talking and taken them to a privet room.

"I am glad that she is under your guidance Master Kaleb and that she is close to the Ambassadors of Bosco and their family. She is a fierce girl and i hope you will take care of her properly because if she ever was to return to Fiore, I won't be giving her back." Chuckling the little King smiled at them and Kaleb couldn't fantom that he was pseudo-threatened by the King.

In all honesty, he didn't even think _this_ was what Lucy had to take care of in Fiore. At first, out of respect of her privacy, he had decided to not look into her mind but he did regret it when Farron's voice called out for him, telling him what happened when they landed and Kaleb was a bit concerned for the blonde. Farron couldn't listen to their thoughts and the whole security thing gave a vibe that the People Lucy was with were dangerous.

Then the second time he contacted him was the next day, asking him to join him in Fiore. Kaleb saw through his brother's eyes when Lucy walked in the room and all he could really concentrate on was how beautiful she looked in the dress, loving how her leg peeked through when she walked like she owned the room, but hated how cold her eyes looked. He saw the resemblance between her and her father through her memories but seeing it like that...he never knew it would affect him so.

No wonder his father had claimed her a sight to behold when she was a part of the upper society.

But even with all of that, his eyebrows shot up when she met the princess. He understood why Farron wanted him there. What was the business Lucy was taking care of that involved the princess and how was it related to her father? He didn't understand. Kaleb had not wasted a second and asked Thane to take him to the Embassy in Fiore, leaving Christoff in charge for a few days and apologising for exhausting the man's magic.

Then Dad had joined them, smiling at both of them, at their expressions and said, "I believe I know more about it than you do." smirking when both him and Farron jumped to see what he had learned which lead them to the court. When Kaleb entered the balcony room, he watched the door open and his lips curled up in a snarl automatically at the thoughts that floated in people's mind. Majority of them were in spite of Lucy and a few were just curious about what was happening when she entered the room with her friend, Cana, the one who she thought about constantly.

He didn't hold back now, wanting to know everything about this girl and slowly shifted through her thoughts, feeling the air rush out of his lungs when he saw memories after memories of pain that she was remembering just by thinking about her father and going in deeper, sorting through each trauma this girl went through except one, he hesitated and in the end decided to not look through what happened in Tartaros when the feeling settled in his mind that that was what Lucy would want.

He couldn't help but feel angry when he saw the faces of the people who caused her pain, her experience at Fairytail and gritted his teeth at how her _teammates_ treated her. Bickslow was right. If that's how they treated her in public, what happened when they were alone?

She cherished yet hated the memories when they were on missions and Kaleb understood why. Her teammates didn't leave any opportunity to make some sort of remark to tell her she needs to work out more, to be stronger, to be more fit! The dragon slayer burning her clothes and embarrassing her to a point she wanted to cry but brushed it off with a smile, or not letting her be a part of the mission because they were 'protecting' her. Destroying villages and houses, mountains, forests and always making her pay her rent late, even after she was almost kicked out.

But what pissed him off the most was how even after 'protecting' her, their attacks caused her more injuries than the people or monsters they were up against. He had wondered why a beautiful goddess like Lucy would doubt herself but now, all he wanted to do was comfort her, to tell her how beautiful she was. So beautiful that for a man who never had a type, Kaleb was suddenly into Blondes. That he wanted to kiss her with every excuse he could find, to show her what she deserved.

But at the same time, his respect for her grew, so did his admiration. He knew from the memories of Bickslow and Laxus and his friends how Kind Lucy was but to see it from her point of view, her reasoning, her logic behind everything she does leave him speechless.

Also...He learned that Lucy was something more than a Celestial Spirit. He didn't have to look at what happened at Tartaros but a year worth of memories when it had only been months left him utterly amazed and in disbelief that she managed to hide something as big as that from him. All he could do was watch her down in the court, with new emotions welling up inside him, vowing that he was going to make her see just how much she deserved.

Kaleb could only wait until he got to talk to her, but he was excited as well as nervous, which was new. It was something Lucy did to him. Make him feel new things he couldn't describe. If anything...he was scared to admit but he liked Lucy...He liked her a lot.

* * *

A comfortable silence surrounded the group, with Arman and Farron on the couch and Lucy and Kaleb on a smaller one, so close that their thighs were touching, they sat in the privet room at the Embassy. Lucy was leaned back, her eyes closed and a silent hum in her mind, which was always there when she was happy. Kaleb was on his tablet taking care of guild work while Farron and Arman finished whatever was left to do in Fiore and Lucy sighed.

She understood that there was a lot of responsibility on her now but oh, Lucy had so many things planned and things she always wanted to do when she lived with her Father and still be a Mage. She felt calm, a part of her felt that a huge weight was lifted off her now that she didn't have to worry about money but also she knew she needed to invest correctly. She nibbled on her lip when Kaleb rubbed his knee against her and opened her eyes barely to look at him, and mentally rolled her eyes when she saw no expression on his face.

She still had a lot of stuff she needed to do, like tell the Raijinshu and oh boy...Lucy was scared. A shiver went through her when she imagined Laxus glaring at her for not telling him or Freed who would pout, wanting to be a part of anything which had legal repercussions in them or Ever and Bixy who just lived for drama. She did wonder how her former guildmates would feel about her now that the Lucy Heartfilia who always complained about money had the same when she lived with Dad. Shaking her head, she stood up, ignoring how the three peeked at her before looking down and sighed again. ' _Mavis...I am so fucking scared.'_ groaning mentally she pulled her lacrima out and was about to excuse herself from the room when Kaleb's voice floated in her head.

 _It's alright done, Lucy. They already know everything._ her Guildmaster looked up with a smirk on his face and Lucy sputtered making Farron and Arman look at her. "What!? When did you tell them?" She looked at him distraught and glared when he laughed. Laughed!

"I mind linked the Raijinshu and my siblings during your proceedings and they saw everything we did." He continued smiling and Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. _I wanted to be the one to tell them, Kaleb. I was the one who owed them an explanation._ Frowning at him she picked the lacrima up and put a sad expression on her face and walked out of the room, trying not to laugh when Arman scolded Kaleb like a child and giggled when he growled in her head. _Served you right!_ She taunted him and with a smile, went to the room Arman had ready for her.

"Hey guys." her voice was tired but a genuine smile on her face, she sighed in relief when her friends were grinning at her making her giggle. A strange sense of happiness washed over her, it made her happy that her friends were proud of her, trusted her and let her do her thing without insisting to interfere but at the same time wanting to know what she was doing. She took her time telling them everything, everything from her father's letter to how she got down to it, and at the end, Lucy was happy to admit that even if she lost everything she still had something.

"I am Fucking proud of you Blondie." Laxus smiled at her through the com and Lucy beamed at him. She will never get used to an actual compliment from someone.

* * *

A low moan made an out of her throat, eyes closed in pleasure as the hands moved over just the right points, Lucy sighing and thanking Gods for massages. She at first found it funny when Farron told her she should relax in the baths but then, this was a Boscan Embassy and Lucy jumped at the idea, wanting to treat herself after such a long day.

She was not really in the mood for sharing pleasures with anyone and had politely declined when they asked if that's what she wanted, instead, lying on the bench and having the tension being pulled out of her body, she relaxed and concentrated on the pleasure it brought her than the events of the day. Her head on her arms, she smiled and bit her lip when the lady next to her moaned but it was very different from the one she had let out. Peeking briefly she saw the experienced hands of the female masseuse rub the points right below her breasts and watched her slowly and gently grab them, rubbing oil on her globs and press her thumbs on her peeks, making her let out another long breath.

She looked away and enjoyed when her male masseuse rubbed her shoulders and upper back and sighed. Gods, Lucy felt so good today, she was going to have her own privet party in her room tonight. A gentle hand motioned her to turn over and Lucy draped the thin cotton cloth on her lower section letting her breast be exposed, opening her eyes slightly and blushing when the man looked at her and then gave her a dazed smile. For the next few minutes, he rubbed her legs, her feet and her stomach with oil before he kneaded her skin and Lucy let out a groan. Mavis, it felt so good. Gods she just loved Bosco and their people and everything about them.

She almost frowned when it was over, but she looked forward to going to the baths. Thanking the masseuse, she slipped on a sheer silk robe and pulled her hair down from the messy bun as she walked out, letting it tumble down and ran her hand through them. She let her robe fall and entered the hot water with a sigh and settled down at the far end ducking down under the water and wetting her hair.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Kaleb standing near the entrance his arms folded with a smile on his face which looked anything but heated. Lucy felt a blush fall all over her cheeks realising that she was practically naked other than a piece of thong she wore, in a bath which she was going to share with Kaleb but she couldn't help and stare as he pulled his own robe lose, his slender fingers pushing them off his shoulders and she watched the hard muscles of his shoulders move as he continued to shrug it off. Her eyes dipping down to his chest and Lucy just drank him in, loving how tanned and beautiful he was. His platinum hair and sprayed across his chest and she saw his guild mark peek through.

Her eyes travelled south when he started walking towards the bath, her heart beating so fast and all she could think about was dragging her nails down his abs to his v-line until she saw that he was not wearing anything and her mouth fell open at how...long he was...and thick. Her eyes snapped up to connect with his lavender ones and she ducked her head under the water so only her eyes were out and to cover up the blush when he looked at her with a lazy grin and dark eyes.

He sat right next to her, his side touching her and she shivered when his arm brushed against her breast slightly and peeked at him from under her lashed and watched him pull her hair up and for a moment Lucy though he might be seducing her when she could not resist but watch how his muscular arms moved. She shifted a little, feeling hot all of a sudden and shifted to move away slightly, but Kaleb caught her by surprise and grabbed her chin in between his fingers and turned her head around, looking in her wide mocha eyes for a second before leaning in and pushing his lips against her.

She was not sure what exactly happened, but she felt a jolt go through her when he tipped her head and moved his soft lips against hers, sucking and nibbling on her lower lips and licking them demanding entrance which Lucy could not deny, moaning as his hot tongue pressed against her's until he coxed it out, his arm snaking around her waist and he pulled her in his lap, Lucy automatically put one hand on his chest, her fingers feeling his hard muscular chest under her touch and her other arm around his neck, silently moaning when he deepened the kiss, one hand around her waist and one on her cheek, tilting her head how he wanted before he leaned back, panting slightly and Lucy took a deep breath, her eyes opening up dazed and looking at him drunk on lust, her light brown eyes almost dark brown.

She could only stare in his eyes and look at his face, unable to look away, like she was pulled towards him ever since she meets him, but so much stronger. She was half aware of his thumb caressing her cheek or his arm tightening around her waist, the only thing she saw was how perfectly beautiful he was. His eyes, his nose, his lips, Lucy could do nothing but drink this sight in, a part of her mind whispering to make the best of the moment because it was not going to last forever.

"I wanted to do that ever since this morning," he whispered, his voice sent a sense of safety and burning desire throughout her body, and finally Lucy came back to earth land, her cheeked ablaze and she tried to move down from his lap but Kaleb held on and tilted his head, continuing what he was saying and trailed his finger on her face, her eyes, nose, her jaw, as if physically memorising her face.

"I wanted to kiss you when you entered the courtroom and I wanted to kiss you when you won that case. I am really proud of you Lucy. You don't cease to amaze me by showing how you are so beautiful, smart, strong and did I say Beautiful?" He grinned when she giggles at how cheesy he was being and held on his shoulder, looking at him. Kaleb brushed the wet strand on hair off her forehead and Lucy leaned into his touch, knowing that this was just a once in a time moment, that he was still her guild master.

She was not even going to dare hope for anything because if she did and it or anything didn't happen she didn't know if she could take more heartbreaks or maybe she used to them now.

 _Why do you keep doing that? Why do you always find a way to dismiss your happiness? If anything, You should be proud of who you are. I don't joke and neither do the people around you when we say you are beautiful, Lucy. You are intelligent, elegant, a strong and powerful mage who is loved by her spirits and who everyone at your previous guild admires. You just need the right right people in your life, and I promise you, Lucy, as your guildmaster, I will try my best to make things best for you.'_ Lucy's lips parted when his soft smouldered eyes turned stern and fierce in a second and she bit her lip and looked away from his face, trying to push her emotions away.

She gasped when Kaleb pulled her against his chest and Lucy realized how her bare skin touched his but Kaleb had other things on his mind and she felt her eyes widen when he looked at her with stern eyes, a frown on his face that Lucy wanted to run her finger on his wrinkled muscles to smoothen the muscles.

"Stop doing that!" It was like deep growl and Lucy frowned at how strained he sounded. "Stop doing what?" She whispered, as if afraid of his answers, and she was. Her heart beating hard against her ribcage, her breath a bit laboured.

"Stop locking your emotions. Stop pushing them away. Stop hiding." He spoke as if as if it pained him and it did. It hurt, tugged his heart when she pushed her pain away, thinking that she was used to it. He didn't understand his emotions himself but her being hurt affected him more than it did when another guild member and in fact anyone of his siblings was hurt.

His hands immediately cupped her cheeks when he saw them filled with tears and he held her in place when she tried to get away. "I...I Can't" Her whispered voice was hoarse as if she was minutes away from crying but Kaleb caressed her cheeks and shook his head and with a soft smile he made her look at him, easing the panic that was building in her mind and using his magic to relax her tense muscles.

"You can." He whispered softly and that was all it took, for her tears to fall, her lips wobbled and her grip on his shoulders tightened and then he saw. He saw Tartaros, he saw the missing blank in everyone's memories, he saw her fight, felt her struggle, her pain, the heartache she went through to break Aquarius's key, the feeling of complete numbness washed over him when she became numb after the battle. He saw the layers and layers of doubt, of self-hate, of pain and the feeling of abandonment that she hid in her heart.

Her body was shaking uncontrollably and Kaleb didn't waste a minute to pull her in for a hug, rubbing her bare back and just letting her cry it out.

"I...I had to do it. I...She...I couldn't fight. I was so weak...a-and she t-told me to... to break h-her key to summon the s-spirit king. I...I" Her little frame shook in his arms as sobs wracked her whole body, and Kaleb felt a lump in his throat as he whispered soothing words in her ear, rubbing her back, stroking her hair and Kaleb felt his breath being knocked out of him as more and more locked up memories burst forward, and he had to force her to breath when she struggled to breathe in between her sobbing.

"It was not your fault, Lucy. Aquarius knows that too, doesn't she? She doesn't blame you. No one does and no one will." Whispering in her ear, Kaleb let her lean against her chest before he smiled and said.

"This is not how i imagined how our first time being naked in front of each other was going to be." Chuckling when Lucy jumped out of his lap and this time he let her, his rich laugh echoes in the small area and he looked at her with mirth in his eyes when she finally giggled and wiped her face with her arm.

Even with the red-rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks, she was still a sight to behold. Kaleb watched her dunk under water and wipe her face of the tears. He watched her thoughts shift through the memories, each one of them, coming to a front with her feelings and emotions about the events in her life and Kaleb kept his distance, letting her sort this out, knowing he was going to be right here if she needed him.

They sat in silence in for the next few minutes until Lucy sighed and leaned in and kissed his cheek and stood up, ignoring the way his eyes left hot trails along her figure, resting on her ass as she walked away. She bends down to pick her robe and wears it and turns around, blushing, seeing Kaleb's arms draped on the edge of the bath but his eyes on her with a tilt oh his head and she bit her lip and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Kaleb."

She missed the way he bit his lip and the way he couldn't turn his eyes away from her retreating figure.

"I don't think i have seen you this affected by someone like this before." A sense of dread mixed with the feeling of getting caught crept up Kaleb's spine and he turned to look away from where Lucy had been standing to where Farron was right now.

"I have no idea what you are talking about brother." the innocent look on his face had Farron laughing out loud as he joined him in the bath.

"Of course, brother. How wrong of me to assume." grinning, both brothers shared a look until Kaleb looked away.

How she made him lose his guard to not be able to detect another person's presence.

* * *

Lucy was biting her lip, leaning against the Window of the train coach and had her legs up on the birth seat with a book in her hand and a frown on her face, mentally getting mad at the character for not seeing the most obvious attraction between him and the female protagonist. She looked up when someone grabbed her feet and put them in their lap and smiled at Kaleb who for once was in casual clothes.

Even Farron and Arman were in jeans and shirts rather than suits and Lucy did appreciate how handsome the three looked. Looking out of the window, she closed her book when she saw that they were about to arrive at their destination. It was 9:00 am and they had the whole day to go around the property and Lucy wanted to look at the library first as soon as they got there.

"How long do you plan to stay in Fiore?" Farron spoke up, sitting opposite from her and Lucy frowned. "A day or two maybe. The case was supposed to take more time with the investigation but because Sawarr pleaded guilty, I am free sooner than I thought. " Lucy put her book in her bag and sat up straight and pulling her shoes on.

"That's good then. I can stay with you while you are here and we can return to Bosco together." Arman smiled at the blonde who returned the expression and shook her head fondly. "You don't have to Arman, it's alright."

The walk from the station to the estate was just five minutes, but it would take them at least 15 more once they entered the estate to reach the minor.

"How big is the property anyway?" Farron asked, who was looking around what looked like a village and saw the bashful smile on Lucy's face.

"3520 Yards... approximately." She blushed when they started at her, surprised for a few seconds before shaking their head and nodding.

"Right... So what are your plans for this place?" he couldn't help but be curious as to what Lucy had stored for her business. Knowing his brother already knew what Lucy was planning, he noticed how he was looking around the place yet walking really close to the Blonde.

"Well, because I want to turn this place into a resort, I was thinking that it would be a good idea to let small businesses open their shops around this place, you know. We have plenty of land for new establishments on this property and it would give them work too. In return, they just have to pay for the rent of this place and the rest is good to go." Lucy herself let her arm brush with Kaleb's but didn't look at him when he shot her a bemused look.

They stood in front of the minor for a few seconds before Lucy took a deep breath.

"Lets get started."


	15. Chapter 15

Heatrfilia Minor was by no means a small property. It was as grand from the outside as it was from the inside even if half of the place needed to be repaired. Lucy slowly let the three men around the housing area showing them the grand halls, the dance rooms, the guest room area, the dining room, the kitchen, her father's office and to everyone's delight, the library.

A lot of things needed to be repaired but Lucy stopped walking halfway inside the library and stared at the little glass roof on top with a nostalgic smile on her face.

"My mom and I used to sit here all night reading series and series of books, drinking hot chocolate sometimes. She loved reading mystery novels, it was her favourite thing." Laughing as she remembered seeing her mom squeal like a kid when her father would bring her more books. Smiling she ran her fingers through the books on the shelves and went back to looking around.

"What do you plan to do with this room?" Kaleb picked a book from and shifted through the pages and Lucy looked at him, biting her lips, thinking.

"Honestly, I don't know." She frowned trying to think and sighed when Farron looked at a set of limited edition books with stars in his eyes. " Some books are pure collector's items and some are related to magic so I think I will have to sort them out and the rare important ones I will bring back with me to Bosco. The room, I think if I went to a resort and they had a library I would fall in love with the place, so maybe we can renovate the room and change it into a lounge area where people can read and stuff." she handed the book set to Farron, the one he was looking at and turned around before he could refuse.

"Maybe add a small cafe counter in the corner so that the staff doesn't have to take long trips to the kitchen and if its a self-serving counter then its better for everyone." Arman pointed towards the end of the library and Lucy hummed, liking the idea.

Farron supplied that its easier for parents to enjoy the trip if their kids are enjoying so maybe add a kids room too and Lucy started jolting down the idea's, everyone looking around for locations for their ideas and Lucy genuinely appreciated how helpful everyone was being.

"We can add a Boscan style spa!" She laughed but soon Kaleb and Arman jumped on the idea, telling her they could arrange the necessary things for that. By the time it was Lunch hour, Lucy suddenly grinned at them and clapped her hands together. "You should bring Mr Elis to meet Aed! He has been the family chief for years! He makes the _best_ Baklava Bites, Kaleb. You will love him.!" Grinning at the guildmaster she felt her heart flutter when he returned her happy expression with such soft smile it melted her.

But Lucy has been waiting for lunchtime because when the went back downstairs she was pulled in for a hug by crying, sobbing people who raised her as their own all her childhood and all she could do was laugh.

"My dear Lucy! I can't tell you how happy I am!" Mrs Spetto despite being shorted picked her up and Lucy giggled before hugging her back.

"My God Lucy dear look how thin you have become!" Aed hit her head with a wooden spatula he always carried and Arman, Farron and Kaleb shared smiled looking at the happy reunion. Kaleb smiled looking at the blonde who was grinning ear to ear meeting the people he saw in her happy memories and even now, all of them expressed utmost happiness meeting the little girl again.

"Arman, Farron, Kaleb I want to meet Mrs Spetto, she is going to manage the housing for the new business, Mr Aed is going to be in charge of the kitchen, Ribbon used to be the Librarian but he will help Mrs Spetto with the staff and finally Jacob, Father's steward but he will be the manager here when i am not." Lucy grinned at all of them and then turned to look back at the three men that held the Staff's attention.

"And guys, The ambassadors of Bosc, Arman Pradesh and His eldest son Farron Pradesh and The Guild master of White Sea, Kaleb Pradesh. They are helping me with the estates as well." Lucy was grinning so happily, it felt right to introduce these people to the ones she grew up with.

She wonders why she never felt like that with her team.

Soon Ribbon pulled Farron in for a conversation and Jacob had Arman's attention while Mrs Spetto started instructing the cleaning team to get to work and Lucy stood next to Kaleb with a serene smile on her face. After years, it felt like she was on the right track and she looked up at Kaleb who was staring down at her and with a blush she stopped herself from looking away.

' _Do...Do you want to go around the gardens with me?'_ Looking at him with a hopeful expression she missed how everyone turned to look at them when Kabel took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers together with a sly grin.

"Lead the way, Sunshine." His low voice had her gulping her needs down and biting her lip she slowly pulled him towards the best part of the house. His hand felt so large around her's, so rough against her smooth white hands and Lucy could all but look at the contrast between his complexion and her's. His tan skin looked so beautiful and without thinking, she ran her thumb across the back of his hand and her heart stuttered when he squeezed her hand back.

They walked around the lush green area in complete silence and Lucy thought her heart would jump out everytime he shifted closer towards her or when he casually pushed her hair behind her ear, smiling such a sweet smile that she was left breathless.

She stopped walking when they reached what looked like a bushy wall but known eyes looked around carefully before pushing the leaves out to the way and pulling Kalbe with him to what turned out to be a hidden sitting area and her smile dropped seeing how messy the place was. She remembered this place as a small area with a stone shelter in the middle with benches under it and surrounded by rose flowers, her mother's favourite.

She sighed and let go of Kaleb's hand and sat on the bench, looking up at him and her breath caught in her throat. His platinum blonde hair drifted a little, playing with the winds around him while his lavender eyes stared at him and Lucy marvelled the way the sun-kissed his tanned skin and she realised something, something she was not really ready to admit yet when he walked closer towards her and sat down.

"I love the way your eyes look in the sun." Kaleb reached forward to caress her cheek and Lucy couldn't stop herself from nuzzling his palm, then blushed to realize what she was doing and smiled shyly up at him.

"You are beautiful, Lucy," Kaleb whispered and all Lucy could do was watch him lean forward with his eyes set on her lips and when her mocha eyes met his beautiful ones she felt the same pull like last night.

Unlike last night, Kaleb claimed her lips for a soft kiss, like a feather touch and it held more meaning than any kiss she has experienced in her life and Lucy was filled with emotions to the rim. He took her hand in his and with the other hand grabbed her chin, tilting her head up and kissed her on her forehead trailing his lips to her cheeks and pressing one right next to her mouth, then the other cheek and finally rested his forehead against hers.

She closed her eyes, not wanting him to see the emotions that filled them up but there was no denying her feeling now anyways. ' _Open your eyes sunshine.'_ His sweet melodic voice floated in her head and when she did open her eyes she almost choked seeing the adoration filled in them. His hand still on her cheek as he brushed his thumb fondly over her skin and she watched a sweet smile carved on his face.

' _Kaleb...'_ Was all she could think and he hmmed and press another kiss on her lips before pulling back.

"I know." His words were like a balm on her broken heart and never had two words held more meaning than they did now. She closed her tear-filled eyes and slowly put her hand on top of his.

She was doomed because Mavis help her, Lucy Heartfilia was in Love.

* * *

When they returned, Lucy walked a little ahead of Kaleb a little deep in thoughts and Kaleb himself tried to understand where he stood. He knew he liked Lucy but every cell in his body has been attracted to her's the moment he saw her. Little things she did make his heart flip in his chest, like when she smiled at him, her hand brushed against his, watching her talk to her spirits, to people she loved and Kaleb wanted to be on the receiving end of that emotion.

He wanted her attention, to make her smile, to make her laugh, to hold her in his arms and worship her like the goddess she is and he just wanted her love the most. It was a foreign feeling. He loved his family and his guild but never has he fallen in love with another person than his family and with Lucy, he couldn't even fantom her being with someone else.

His eyes caught Farron's as they walked inside and something unspoken passed making his brother grin at him.

Lucy spent the rest of the day sitting down with his father and the Staff and explaining how everything was going to happen while Kaleb stood next to Farron who had yet to stop smiling.

"So..." He started and Kaleb tried not to blush. He has _never_ in his life blushed over something like this and that made Farron crackle next to him. "Oh my, Kaleb. I have never seen you like this." Patting his shoulder while still laughing, Kaleb tried not to show how flustered he was. He was the one who was _always_ in control of his emotions and here he was blushing like a school girl because his brother realised he had feelings for Lucy.

"I don't blame you, to be honest. I have never met someone like her and if I was not already promised to Freed, I would have asked her, you know." Farron looked at Lucy who was talking to Jacob and then looked at Kaleb who was staring at her with an unreadable look on her face.

"I have never felt like this before." He admitted almost whispering and Farron did feel bad for him. All his life Kaleb had been the centre of attention for everyone because of his looks or power. People have tried to woo him for the luxuries he comes with. For a 23-year-old guy, he was already a wizard Saint, a guild master for the biggest Guild in Fiore, A knight and Vice-general for the royal army and on top of that a rare beauty with his platinum blonde hair and tanned skin.

Men and women have tried to make him fall in love with them but his best advantage has been his magic and Lucy...Gods help, it was the best decision his brother made by bringing her here. She was smart, fierce, loyal, powerful, beautiful, connected, intelligent and scary to a level than she scared him a bit. But beyond that, she was Kind, sweet and so caring to people she loved and never tried to bed any of them, even though all she had to do is ask and everyone would be ready to share pleasures with her.

But as a person who sees things from the third point of view, Lucy was attracted to Kaleb like he was to her. There was raw chemistry between them and almost everyone saw it. So Farron knew that if anyone is deserving of his brother, Its Lucy. He looked at Kaleb and smiled.

"Neither did I before I meet Freed. You would know better than anyone if the person is right for you, Kaleb. But I don't think there is anyone better than Lucy for you. Think about it brother." Patting his shoulder one last time, he moved to join the conversation Lucy was having with his father and leaving Kaleb alone to go over his thoughts.

If he decided to act on his feelings, no one was going to celebrate it more than their family.

* * *

"It's strange really. I feel so bored have the time like I have not done enough for the day." laughing Mira looked at Evergreen through the lacrima and the brunette smiled back though it hurt her to talk to Mira as if nothing happened.

"I can understand, I think. White Sea is always so lively but sometimes I really miss the Guild." Sighing, Ever ran her hand through her hair and looked up when she felt burning stares on herself and caught steel grey eyes and blushed before looking back at the screen.

"How is Lucy? I heard she is in Bosco?" Mira suddenly asked and Evergreen could swear she saw another head peek in next to her. "Lucy is Fine. She has actually gone back to Fiore for a week for some personal work." Ever tried to stay as vague as she could but her eyes suddenly turned cold when Lissana poked her head in front of the screen.

"Yeah, we heard. Something about her being the heir of her business again but I didn't believe it really." There was a cold edge to her tone and Ever clenched her hand and smiled back. "She will tell you if its something like that." Ever has always hated how rude Lisanna has been towards Lucy ever since she came back and even now the haughty tone she talked with irked her so much.

"So, if it's true, will she leave the guild? I mean it's not like she belonged in one in the first place anyway." snorting she ignore the glare Mira sent her way and raging anger poured in her veins. She opened her mouth to snap back but a firm hand landed on her shoulder and she felt the sparks of Laxus's magic on her skin.

"What she chooses to do or not do shouldn't bother you anyways, Strauss. Not like you care about Blonde anyways." The threatening tone was clear in his voice and if possible, Lissana huffed and glared and walked away from the screen and maybe it was her bad luck but Ever saw a towering figure enter the room behind Mira and his blue eyes sought her's and Ever got up from her chair and walked past Laxus muttering about needing some fresh air.

Her heart pounding against her chest and she rushed outside to the streets, walking away from the building with no destination in mind. People moved away from her path and Ever realised her eyes had turned cold as they were before Lucy came along and did her magic. Tears filled her eyes and all she wanted was to hide so when a rough but firm hand caught her, glossy eyes snapped up to meet his cold ones and she didn't want him to see her like this but he wouldn't let go of her hand and gently pulled her with him.

Presca took her to the beach and instead of going where the crowd was, took her to what looked like a hidden natural pool and let go of her, watching her bring her wrist up to her chest and look away from him towards the sea. Her heart was still beating fast but now for a different reason as she tried to not look at his handsome face. Both of them didn't say anything and Ever stepped into the natural pool, dipping her feet in the cool water and just staring at the sparkling water.

She wondered how it ended up like this. She had joined Fairytail because Laxus promised her a family and yet her only family was him, Bickslow and Freed until Lucy made it her mission to make her, her friend and then she got close to Elfman, putting on the stoic face to make everyone think she was still that cold bitch she has always been. She warmed up to Mira and Cana then suddenly Evergreen was there for the girls day out and sleepovers and she fell in love with Elfman. So how did it all turn out like this?

When had she started hating Lisanna? When had Lisanna become such a bitch?

Sighing she looked at Presca and bit her lip staring at him. He stared at the ocean and Evergreen apricated hot he broken leather jacket hugged his body before she looked away. She didn't want to fall in love again, because knowing her previous relationships, Ever knew she had no Luck in the love department.

With a broken huff, she wiped her tear and wrapped her arm around herself when she felt the heat of Presca's body pressed against her side and she looked at him with confusion shining in her eyes and for the first time she saw the cold look on his face be replaced by a soft one and all he did was slide his hand on her hair, looking at her with a thoughtful expression before ruffling her hair and offering her a smile.

If it was to distract her, it did. Because Evergreen didn't think a smile could be so beautiful on anyone's face. Her heart fluttered and her belly flopped inside her but she smiled back at him and both fell into a serene sort of silence.

* * *

She doesn't remember how long it has been since she has done this but here she was, lying outside in the garden, staring at the sky feeling it was the perfect time to think about her feelings.

The things she felt for Kaleb were different than how she has felt for anyone before. It was not just the sexual tension that Lucy admits is there every time she is near Kaleb but the sense of security. He makes her feel safe, wanted and the way her heart beats when he is around her, she could only thank Mavis no Dragon Slayer was near her to heart her thumping heart. Kaleb...he made her feel special. When he looked at her with that obvious smile on his face Lucy never sees at the guild, it makes her feel like for him, she is different.

The way his touches make her feel dizzy and the tingling on her skin, Mavis...he was driving her mad.

He has been nothing but patient with her, so caring, so understanding even after she told him what happened in Tartaros and all he did was reassure her rather than hate her. Kaleb has always encouraged her to do what she wanted to do and never made her feel like she was lacking. Her heart stuttered when she thought about what he said this afternoon and she hopes he meant what she thinks he means.

A sudden burst of magic besides her made her turn her head and maybe she was expecting Loke but when Capricorn sat down next to her, she smiled at him and turned back to look at the stars. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

"He is quite an agreeable man." Capricorn's stern voice was rather tender and Lucy blushed. "Strong to keep you safe, intelligent to hold against your wit, calm and caring towards people he loves." the goat spirit kept going on and Lucy tried not to blush even more than she already was. "Would be supportive of the adventure you have to take and would keep you happy. Then why are you waiting?" The question had a tone of impatience in it and Lucy shot her spirit an amused yet bashful look.

"I don't want to get my hopes up, Capricorn." She whispered and traces the constellation of Lyra in the sky, ignoring the frustrated grunt from her spirit.

"One day, Miss Lucy you are going to learn how much people love you. I do not think that Master Kaleb is a man who would raise your hopes up only to destroy them later. He _is_ the Immaculate Light, isn't he? It would hurt him to play such a lie with you, Miss Lucy. If Master Kaleb was not interested in you he would not have paid you the attention he does from the very beginning." Scolding his young master, Capricorn could only see realisation settle on her face and she opened and closed her mouth a few times before falling into her thinking process.

"You have freed yourself from everything which held you back, why be scared to not fall in love?" With the parting Question, Capricorn disappeared back in the spirit world and a part of Lucy's mind wondered if he has always been this dramatic but the there mused over everything he said and he was right.

Lucy was scared because a part of her believed that somehow her old team was going to ruin this relationship too, but how illogical that thought is! Kaleb, if he wanted her, won't be swayed by what her team thought? He was stronger than them and moreover, Kaleb has never made fun of her magic which was common at Fairytail. He thought it was beautiful, unique and powerful and he respected her spirits when he met them.

The night turned into dawn when finally Lucy got up from where she was lying and walked around the messy garden towards the little secret area where she took him yesterday. She is staying here for a week with Arman to make sure everything started with ease while Farron and Kaleb were going back to Bosco today and Lucy let out a sad sigh.

Staring at the rising sun, Lucy took a deep breath, her stomach still fluttering inside her since she realised her feeling for her guildmaster. Sighing once again, she turned around to go back inside but came face to face with Kaleb and her eyes widened in surprise, hoping he didn't catch her last thoughts but her hopes were in vain when Kaleb sent her a nervous smile.

She wondered would it hurt more if he rejected her right now or if she said her feelings out loud but her worry fell right out of the window when Kaleb stalked towards her with a heated look in his eyes and his lips were pressed firmly against his that her heart felt like it was going to explode.

He picked her up with ease and Lucy wrapped her hands around his neck pushing her body into his, returning his passion with her own and moaned when he all but slammed her into the pillar of the shelter, his hands running up and down her waist and pushed his tongue in her mouth, both fighting to win but Lucy felt so lost just by being in his presence that just his touches were making her want more so she rubbed her self along his growing erection and both moaned at the friction and Kabel took her lower lip between his teeth and bit her in warning but trained his hands towards her hips and gave them a firm squeeze and Lucy whimpered against his lips.

"Kaleb..." He breathes out when he started training kisses down her jawline, her neck and gasped in surprise when he bit her junction on her neck and looked back up at her with such heat and want in her eyes that if Lucy was wet before, she was drenched now.

' _Kaleb. I...Please.'_ She ground herself against him, only for him to hold her hips firmly and with his head resting on her shoulder he groaned.

"Lucy.." His voice was dipped with Lust and Lucy shivered at how sexy he sounded right now. "When you come back to Bosco, I promise...I will make you mine." His eyes meet her and her breath was knocked out of here and her lips wobbled seeing him look at her with Love and she choked on a sob and pulled him closer for a hug.

"I...I love you, Sunshine." His own voice was heavy with emotions as he spoke with his lips so close to her ears. "I have never felt like this for anyone, the way I feel for you Lucy so please let me take care of you. Let me make you mine." His voice was so close to pleading that it broke her heart and she pulled back and grabbed his perfect face between her hands and kissed him.

"Yes...Gods yes, Kaleb. I..Love you too." She laughed when he grinned at her, his eyes smiling and spun her around, his own laughter joining her before he put her on the ground in front of him, happiness radiating from him and this time when their lips met, Lucy could sweat it was the sweetest kiss ever bestowed on her lips.

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the late update. Do sound off below if you liked the chapter! Next chapter- Lucy going back to Bosco after a week.**_


	16. Chapter 16

Maybe it showed on their face or it was their intertwined hands and the blush on her face that Arman had taken one look at them and pulled her in for a hug, claiming he was so happy one of his kids had the brains to scoop her up. Farron chuckled beside them and with a heartfelt hug had welcomed her to the family.

But for both Lucy and Kaleb the hard part was leaving. Thane was already there to take the two home and Lucy tried not to show how much she hated that he was leaving when they just confessed to each other but Kaleb didn't need to use his magic to know how she felt and in the privacy of her room had kissed her breathless for the second time today mumbling something about missing her as Lucy sat in his lap, caressing his cheek, running her finger on his nose, his lips, watching a peaceful expression settle on his face as he sighed.

"One week without you and I already hate it," Kaleb mumbled and kissed her fingertips, never thought he would be this cheesy one day but it was true. A huge part of him was already aching just thinking about not being with her now that she was his.

"You can stay," Lucy whispered but she already knew his answer and with a sad smile claimed his lips for a sweet kiss before sighing against his lips and closed her eyes, their foreheads touching, breathing in each other's presence. It felt like a dream like she was going to be in the garden under the stars when she wakes up and none of this happened and her hold on his shoulders tightened.

She felt like Kaleb had become such a huge part of her life in the last months and never did she think that she would fall in love in a month with a man like him, someone who was so...unreal. So perfect, so patient, so beautiful and maybe that was why she fell for him in the first place. It was her favourite moment when Kaleb laughed at a joke his siblings made or the way he looked so hot coming out of the gym sweating and they way his muscles looked in his tank top, his hair sticking to his sweaty skin smiling at the guild members who passed him.

His arms around her tightened and Lucy blushed, forgetting he could hear her thoughts, trying to draw back but he made a disapproving noise. "Don't close the door on me Sunshine. I like to hear what you are thinking." nudging her nose with his he grinned when she crinkled her nose and gave him a shy look.

 _'But what if i am thinking about you and don't want you to know.'_ Playing with one of his strands she looked at him fro under the lashed and yelped when he suddenly pushed her on the bed hovering over her with a wicked look in his eyes and a smirk playing on his lips as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck and hummed, almost sounding like a purr.

' _Especially when thinking about me.'_ He surprised her again by licking the same place he bit her this morning enjoying how she moaned and spread her hands on his chest feeling him up. "When I take you, Lucy, you won't be leaving the bed for a very long time and I will take my sweet time with you that you will feel me on you even when i won't be touching you." Biting her ear he smirked when her mind imagined them spread on his bed in every different position her brain could possibly think of and when she let out a strangled sound he looked at her with mischief seeing how hazy her eyes were.

She stared at him for a few seconds before she blinked and when it registered in her mind that he was teasing her, she glared at him and slapped his chest. ' _Not fair.'_

Pouting, Lucy tried not to smile when Kaleb threw his head back with a laugh and bunched his shirt in her hand and pulled him down for a kiss, loving how his lips were still curled up in a smile against hers.

An hour later he had kissed her once more before Thane teleported them back home and all she could do was stare where he had been standing a few seconds ago until Arman put his hand on her shoulder and with a smile, he offered her his arm.

To distract herself from the feeling of void inside her, Lucy got busy working on everything so she could go back to Bosco. She took a bath, changing from her Pyjamas to a pair of trouser pants and black shirt, tieing her hair up in a neat bun and meet Arman in the Library where the cleaning crew had already started working.

Summoning Crux, she asked him to look at the books once with Ribbon and decide which ones to keep here and which ones to store and Arman sighed next to her.

"You will have to take the entire place apart before you start working on it again Lucy. It's going to take more than a week." With a sad smile, he watched her expression drop for a second before she looked back at him with a small smile.

"Well...we can see how it turns out at the end of the week." Her hands on her waist she moved aside letting the movers carried an empty bookshelf away. They stayed there for a few more minutes, Lucy asking Ribbon to call her if he needs her and Arman and Lucy went to the front of the minor where the contractor was waiting for them and Lucy remembered his name from Hisui's message and smiled at the older looking man who waited for them, Grey hair, round face but a well-kept body and a professional look on his face.

"Darma Vishwas. Hi, I am Lucy Heartfilia and this is Arman. " Shanking his hand she waited until he greeted Arman and the man started walking away from the estate.

"How do you plan to get things done, Darma?" Arman suddenly asked and Lucy kept quiet, understanding that Arman knew what he was talking about. Darma looked at him surprised then looked at Lucy who smiled politely at him.

"Well...the property is still well kept but the structure of the main building needs to be changed from a house to a resort. We took a look around the place and I would advise expanding the building area, add more luxury rooms, inside pools, bars, restaurants if possible salon for ladies, casino. That's what attracts customers and mages, to have all the fun stuff in one place. " He walked next to Arman who looked at Lucy and she had her Lacrima Tablet that she got from Bosco and jotting down stuff.

"But aside from that, it is important to make the place as relaxing as you can. The second Minor on the left of the main building, i would advise to turn it into a bathhouse, closer to the resort. " He pointed at the building what used to be where she took all her classes. Her father wanted her to be alone with books when she was studying.

"Gardens, pools, jacuzzis, would be nice since this place is near the mountain." Lucy hummed and clicked a few pictures and looked at Arman who was enjoying his walk and smiled at him. "I would like the garden area to be fixed when the construction has been finished so we can take that out of the picture for now. As for the second Minor, I agree with your Idea. That place has about 10 rooms so they can be renovated into spa treatments and the back area into the baths."

Once they started walking towards the village road Lucy expressed she wanted the dirt-covered path to be turned into a brick sidewalk type road, where people could walk easily or cars could drive them from the entrance to the resort.

Arman exclaimed that it would be better if the area is secured off by proper fencing around the property and an entrance gate to be installed. They decided that they would save peoples money who would want to start their shops in the area by already building a basic shop structure for them. Eight years worth turnover was already in her account so if it took a Trillion Jewels to get the entire place fixed, Lucy didn't mind.

Her next two days were spend with the interior designers who advised her which part should be decorated like what, asked her what she wanted with the place, her taste, her choice and Lucy had expressed that she wanted the whole place to have a touch of her life, elegant like the Konzen and a bit wild like her previous guild. Other than that, she had a whole other privet wing being constructed for her close friends and potential family.

It was on the fourth day, when Arman and Lucy were walking outside, both having a heart to heart conversation about her happy childhood memories and she learned many many stories about what a menace Kelab was as a kid even though he was much calmer now, when Arman stopped walking, narrowed eyes fixed on a lone figure walking towards them and Lucy frowned before she felt her eyes widen and took a hurried step towards her best friend, who for some reason was covered in bandages from head to toe, a bruised eye and a busted lip and tears gleaming in her eye, a sight she has never seen before.

"Cana..." Lucy whispered, pulling the brunette for a hug minding her injuries and her heart clenched when she heard a choked sob. How did this happen in five days? She felt her own eyes tear up at the sound for someone so brave like Cana break down in her arms. She looked over her shoulder at Arman who has a concerned frown on his face and it deepened when she meets his eyes.

"Come on, let's go back inside." He spoke softly, and Lucy looked in her mauve coloured eyes when she looked up and slowly took her hand at the vivid pain swimming in her eyes.

They walk back in silence, Arman walking ahead of them and Lucy kept a firm grip on Cana's hand, once they entered the main house, she saw Mrs Spetto and gave her a small smile. "Can you ask Aed-san to make us some tea and snacks and prepare a room next to mine for her." She tried grinning at the older lady, who hurried to do what Lucy requested her to and with a parting smile, took Cana to her room and as if holding herself back the whole time, the brunette broke down into body-wracking sobs, falling on her knees and Lucy slide down in front of her, holding her close.

She rubbed her back, all the while wondering if anyone's lives after Fairytail didn't fall apart. Whispering soothing words in her ear, Lucy slowly ran her hand through her hair and when Cana finally managed to croak something out, Lucy forgot to breathe for a minute.

"W-Why c-can't anybody loves me, Lucy?! W-What is wrong with me!?" The hold she had on Lucy was so tight as if Cana was afraid Lucy was going to disappear and Lucy has never felt more helpless. "Oh, Sweety..." She mumbled and tightened her arms around her even more.

"What happened?" Keeping her voice as soft as she could, Lucy leaned back a bit and met with a red, tear-streaked face filled with raw agony. "I-I t-thought i-it was because of o-of the alcohol at first but then he...he never drank s-so much when it happened the next time and I-I..." Her words were all jumbled up but Lucy understood where this was going.

"What did he do?" She meets her eyes with her own angry ones and Lucy's eyes trail down to the bandaged neck, glaring at Cana when she tried to protest as Lucy started unwrapping them and her body shook with the amount of rage she felt in her. She understood why people say they see red when they are blinded by anger and that is what Lucy was at the moment.

Cana's neck was filled with blue, green blotches of bruising and the handprint that she had around her neck was red looking so noticeable and painful that Lucy pulled back and started removing the other bandages from Cana's body and choked on anger when she saw what she _knew_ were chain whip marks on her back. She felt her best friends body start shaking again and it made her calm down just a bit.

"I am going to kill him." She whispered fiercely but pulled out Gemini's key and the spirit turned into Wendy as soon as it came out, bending down next to Cana and raised her hand, practising the dragon-slayers magic on her neck first and then healing the more severe injuries, like the broken rib, whip marks and bruises on her stomach.

Bacchus Groh. Lucy thought darkly, her hands clenching into a tight fist as she watched her friend's eyes droop with exhaustion and the sensation of healing magic. She has never like the guy. He looked noble and loyal but maybe Lucy recognised that look in his eyes seeing it so many time in her father's when he would punish her. But Lucy never, _Never,_ thought he would go this far and oh she was going to make that man pay for laying a hand on Cana.

"Don't leave...please," whispering Cana tried to tighten her hold on Lucy's hand and Lucy caressed her cheek. "I am here. I won't leave, okay?" The words reassured her just a bit but Cana didn't loosen her hold on Lucy's hand.

From what she knew, Cana wanted to stay in Fiore hoping Gildarts would come back looking for her and joined Quatro Cerberus with Bacchus since he and Cana had a few hook-ups in the past. Her anger rose, even more, when Loke came out himself his jaw clenched and picked up his friend from the ground, putting her on Lucy's bed.

' _Why can't anybody love me?'_ She asked and Lucy felt angry tears pool in her eyes. Why did it always have to be people around her who were so broken? Gods! Lucy would do anything to make her friends stop hurting. First Evergreen, then Gajeel and now Cana.

After her mom died, all Cana ever wanted was to have a family, to meet her father and for him to accept her and all she got was nothing. Sure, Fairytail was a family, but it was nothing for a girl who just wants her parent to love her. When she told Ever that Cana was pissed at Gildarts, it was more hurt than anger on her part and Lucy was ready to kill anyone who was going to put up an argument that Cana was always casual around men.

Because Lucy happen to know how the only thing that girl wanted in her life was stability and love! Drinking has always been a way for her to deal with her emotions and hookups to forget the loneliness she constantly felt.

Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the room to try and calm herself down but damn it if she felt like she could murder Bacchus and she won't even regret it.

* * *

Arman was the first person she went to, hoping the man will help her calm down so she didn't do something she would regret but she didn't expect the man to get so angry for someone he barely knew.

"What do you want to do? If you want, my dear, I can have it all sorted out by tomorrow." Arman took a sip of his tea and Lucy had to pause to look at him, a bit surprised and maybe a bit scared even. The way he said it, it felt more like a threat than a question.

"I...I want to take her with us to Bosco. I'll talk to Kaleb and Laxus but I don't want her to be alone."Sighing, Lucy rubbed her forehead. Why does it have to be like that! So after half an hour, Lucy sat on the desk in her room, looking at Cana before dialling the number on her Lacrima. After a few rings, Laxus finally picked up and Lucy gave them a tiny smile when she saw Bickslow and Ever hanging over his shoulder.

"What's up, Blonde?" Laxus grinned at her and Lucy bit her lip, trying not to get angry all over again. The mood went down the moment they saw her expression and before they could ask, Lucy, started explaining what happened after Cana came here and what she told her, her eyes stung with tears but she told them about her injuries just as Kaleb joined Laxus in the room looking concerned and Lucy was not a bit surprised when Laxus started snarling, lightning sparking on his skin dangerously, even Bickslow and Ever looked red with anger because whatever said and done they knew Cana way before they knew her.

"I am coming back day after tomorrow now. I don't want her to stay in Fiore any longer but I wanted to tell you so you guys would give her some space, alright?" Lucy looked up from the screen when she heard Cana whimper and pressed her lips together. Laxus suddenly got up, his sensitive ears picking up the whimper easily and Lucy was not even surprised when he turned to look at her with white eyes, scales appearing on his skin.

"I will kill him." The way he said it made her shiver from fear. Laxus when angry was scary but dragon mode Laxus was terrifying. Especially when his voice sounded so gruff and full of malice. He eyes automatically sought out Kaleb's and how she managed to not be emotionally overwhelmed was a miracle.

"I-I should go take care of her." She whispered, her own voice now sounded close to crying and with a wobbly smile she turned the call off and got up on unsteady feet. Ms Spetto dropped a pair of clean clothes and Lucy went to the bathrooms to run a hot bath, in case Cana got up now.

She did, but after an hour and Lucy made sure to be right beside her when she got up because for a second she looked so startled until she saw Lucy and though her eyes welled up, she refused to cry. Ever the brave.

"Come on, I'll help you take a bath." She smiled gently, trying not to show any sympathy on her face knowing her friend hated it. There was hesitation like she wanted to tell her she can do it on her own but she got up, her body not aching like before and Lucy let her strip out of her own clothes, only helping her out of her bra and once Cana was in the water, she used the herbal medicine wash that Virgo brought for her and slowly lathering her hands with it she starting washing the dirty back and winced when Cana groaned in pain but stayed still.

Other than her hair, she let Cana do her own thing and only helped her with her shirt before they walked out, to the dining room where she had Mr Aed prepare some food for her and they sat in silence, Lucy watching Cana stare into space and finally she spoke up.

"We are leaving for Bosco in two days. Bixy's dad is already working on getting you a visa. You are going to stay with me and the Raijinshu." Lucy announced, her tone telling the brunette she didn't really have an option and watched Cana nod.

"And then, Laxus, Bix, Freed Ever and I are going to kill Bacchus. Probably cut his dick off and then feed him to the Vulcans." Lucy continued and watched a smile slip on Cana's face at the same time Mr Aed put a plate of her favourites in front of her.

Before she started eating, Cana looked up at Lucy with glossy eyes and smiled. "Thanks, Lu. I...I didn't know where else to go. I.." She suddenly looked down and Lucy instantly grabbed her hand.

"You can always come to me, Cana. You don't need to go anywhere else. We will go to Bosco and like everyone else, we will start a new life there, Okay? Forget about everything that happened in Fiore." She rubbed her thumb on the back of her hand before she teasingly smiled at her.

"And who knows...You find true love the moment you get off the air carrier." She giggled when Cana threw her a half amused look. Not letting go of each other's hand, they ate their food in a sort of peaceful silence when Arman walked in the room and Lucy felt Cana tense but sent her a reassuring smile.

"Cana, meet Arman Pradesh. Bickslow's dad and Arman, meet Cana Alberona, my best friend." Lucy quickly introduced them and Smiled at Arman who sat in front of them and looked at Cana with fatherly affection just like he had looked at Lucy and just like Lucy, Cana felt choked up at the foreign expression the man sent her way.

"You don't have to worry about anything my dear. My son, Kaleb has already prepared an apartment for you back at White Sea we will make sure you are well taken care of. And with friends like Lucy and the others in Bosco, I feel you would fall in love with that place just like they did." as always, Arman had a way with people because even though there were no tears, the way Cana said "Thank You." was enough for both of them to understand how much his words meant to her.

* * *

Later at night Lucy and Cana were in her room when Lucy suddenly blushed and looked at Cana, before clearing her throat to grab her attention.

"So...I...wanted to tell you something." She started, blushing, even more, when Cana raised her eyebrow at her and looked away. "Umm...So...I met this guy in Bosco..."She started and immediately Cana's interest perked up and she looked like her old mischevious self.

"Oh~ Lucy-Lu met a guy~ Tell me more~" she quickly sat closer to Lucy and even though internally patting herself for lightning up the mood, she still felt shy.

"It's just...Gods Cana he is hot! Every time I see him I feel like I am going to explode! And he is so sweet, kind and gentle and hot...and caring and gorgeous I just want to kiss his senseless!" Lucy finished with a deep sigh and her heart started pounding against ger ribs thinking about Kaleb.

"Oh my...Look at you~ You are in Love~" Cana crackled next to her, giggling when Lucy bit her lip but shut up very quickly when Lucy mumbled..." Yeah...well so is he." Her whole body was red not and Cana grabbed her shoulder making her look at her.

"What? Who is he? Give me all the details!" She practically shouted and Lucy felt like she was going to combust.

"Um...er...his name is...well..." Raising her cold hands to her boiling cheeks Lucy looked at Cana Shyly yet a bit Sly.

"Kaleb Pradesh."

"Lucy! WHat the FuCk!"

It took two minutes for Lucy to stop Cana for shouting "The Kaleb Pradesh! Lucy You sly bitch!" Lucy was happy to see her friend pace around the room with a grin and a rather proud look but also relieved that Cana was okay with it.

" .Everything." Cana suddenly grabbed her shoulders and looked in her eyes, the look reminding Lucy off Mira.

She blushed a bit more and looked away but started speaking, not able to stop once she did.

"Well...he...he is obviously the Guild master and when I saw in the first time... Mavis, Cana he just took my breath away. I have never seen a man look so...Godlike. I...Uh!" burying her face in the pillow she tried to hide the love-struck look in her eyes.

"Kaleb was so sweet with me when I first came to Bosco and it felt like an instant attraction with him...like him and I are connected... somehow. Whenever he is around I feel so safe and warm but at the same time I want to strip him off his clothes and take him in front of everyone." groaning, Lucy rubbed her thighs together, imagining how their first time was going to be like.

"He is...so kind and gentle with everyone and sometimes I see him wearing nothing but a silk thong when he comes out of the massage therapy and Gods his body is a sin." Lucy burrowed deeper into the pillow, missing the amused look Cana had fixed on her.

"And then he is always flirting and every time he touches me I feel like I am going to explode. Then he kissed me and I swear to god Cana I saw stars...with just a kiss! Then he kissed me again and I don't know how I managed to not rip his clothes off of him because he is so tempting all the time! When he is walking ar the guild or in the gym or swimming or at the club or home it just...just...agh!"

Lucy suddenly shot up, looking at Cana who was hardly controlling herself from laughing and ran her hand through her hair, clearly flustered and frustrated.

"He is a mind bender and at first I was scared...you know that I will fall for him but he would never fall for someone like me. I mean, Kaleb is a Guild Master, A Wizard Saint, A vice general in the royal army and so... alluring. Like a serene and everyone around him just can't resist him but he is so much more than that. He is so good with his family and his guild and even though he told me he loves me, the more I think about it the more I feel I will never be able to be someone like him but I really love him so much that it Hurts and I-"

"Lucy."

"-don't think I can live without him because being away from him hurts me but I don't know why-"

"Lucy..."

"I can't stop thinking about his smile and how beautiful his eyes are and the more I think about him the more I fall in love-"

"LUCY!"

Lucy suddenly blinked, looking at Cana who was taking a deep breath and looking at her with such a mixed expression. "First of all, believe me when I say, Lucy but Kabel know how powerful you are and Guild Master or not, you have some very high connections. I mean, come on, You know the royal family like you grew up with them, you said you know the Royal Chancellor of Minstreal when you were studying business there for a year and now you are literally the richest woman in Fiore."

"Second, You are literally gorgeous. Like I would totally fuck you if you were into girls so I _can_ imagine how the people in Bosco would feel when they see you. I mean with those tits and that ass...you had almost every male in Fiore on their knees. Third, You are a very strong mage. Sure you had to train in an entirely different realm to reach where you are today but that's what every mage does, alright." Taking another deep breath, Cana offered her a sly smile this time.

"And I don't think I have ever seen you so hot and bothered about a man before. Like, damn girl, I get it, I almost orgasmed seeing his photo but I am so fucking proud of you." Cana suddenly wrapped her arm around Lucy and the blonde quickly wrapped her own hands around her.

"I am happy for you, after everything you have been through, you deserve this." She whispered in Lucy's ear and felt her arms tighten around her. "Thank You."

* * *

Meanwhile, Back in Bosco, the mood had suddenly darkened a lot after the call. Kaleb had to use his magic to calm the raging dragon down and he filtered through each of their thoughts, feeling his own anger rise to see his brother and friends obviously mad about what had happened but felt a different kind of anger settle in seeing the defeated look in Lucy's eyes.

Now that every door in her mind was open to him, Kaleb had a good idea what that look meant and he hated it on her. That woman, in fact, the people at that guild (Except some) have been through so much he had often wondered if friendship and being 'Namaka' was enough for them or Fairytail was really a family?

Bickslow, he knew had been treated as an outcast when he joined and only after he met Laxus, he started doing better. Evergreen, he knows, tries to be strong and hold her own fights but even she felt so insecure that he watched the way she was crumbling when she came to Bosco the first day.

Then, of course, there is Freed. Thrown out of his house by his father for preferring men over women and wanting to be a mage. All that man had wanted was acceptance...like Lucy. Her case was the worst he has seen. A combination of everything above. Being outcasted as weak, insecurities running deep, not being accepted by her father, constant need to prove herself, being blamed for so many things when she was at the guild and Kaleb didn't like that one bit.

He had time to think once Lucy let him see everything and he _is_ so proud of her. That woman is strong, poised, beautiful, classy, intelligent, gentle and kind and Kaleb knew she wondered how he fell for her but he wondered the same thing.

Later when he was sitting in his room, nursing a brandy in his hand, his Lacrima phone buzzed and all the negative thoughts left his mind, so did the tiredness.

1 Message

From Lucy

' _I Love You. Can't wait to see you again.'_

Yes, Kaleb did love her a lot. He can't even begin to describe his feelings because if he did, he knew he won't stop.

God's he just wants her back home.


	17. Important

_**Please read this.**_

* * *

Lucy's Celestial magic is advanced to the point where she uses the star dresses of her spirit and lends their power, but because she is the protagonist and it can't be possible that the powers of celestial beings are so limited, therefore, Lucy has stronger magic, excess to the hidden depths of it.

She was declared **_Siderum Custos_** or the guardian of the stars, a person who by the power of the Celestial King acts as an intermediary between human mages and celestial beings, but mostly because of her kindness, fights for the wellbeing of the spirits in the entire realm. Being the Guardian, she is gifted pure Celestial magic making her a caster mage rather than just a holder and she can perform spells like the Urano Metoria, Holy Star shower, Celestial Pillar, etc. Her magic is pure ancient magic.

She has also been gifted six lost Palladium keys, only to be wielded by the strongest. Alpheus - Spirit of the ancient sea.

Ferox- Spirit of the holy fire.

Rhea- Spirit of the earth.

Aeolus- Spirit of the wind.

Glacies- Spirit of the untouched ice.

Dekla- Spirit of time.

These keys hold so much power that any normal celestial mage would die because of magic deprivation but won't be able to open the gate. The spirits are ancient, knowledgeable and hold a lot of respect for Lucy.

 **Alpheus** is male, 6'2, dark chocolate toned skin with swirls of blue tattoo linking him to his magic. He had greyish white hair and black eyes contrasting his skin tone with canine sharp teeth and a couple of ear piercings. He is well built, a mountain of a man. His magic is obviously water related. He is a calm yet mischevious spirit, good sense of humour and like loke loves to open his gate on his own. He doesn't wear a shirt but wears white dhoti pants and gold ankle bands and is barefoot.

 **Ferox** is a female spirit, 5'9 feet tall and fiery red hair with highlights that make them look like molten lava, bright orange eyes. She has to ancient symbols on her shoulders and her magic is mostly fire and molten lava. She is calm most of the time and only gets riled up when its time to fight. A very classy spirit, good fashion sense and does understand the meaning of privacy but when she gets too excited she sometimes pops out to meet Lucy.

 **Rhea** is a female, goddess-like earth spirit. She manipulates anything related to earth, plants, rocks etc. She is 5'4 and has a golden toned skin with vivid green eyes and brown curly hair, and her ancient tattoo is on her wrists. She is a cheerful spirit who is very fun to be around and had a bit dark sense of humour so gets along well with Virgo. She wears an ancient gown like dress which is bronze in colour and a metallic flower crown on her head.

 **Aeolus** is a male spirit of the wind. He is 6'1 and pale skinned with pale blue hair and grey eyes. He has a scar running down his left chest pectoral and his ancient symbol is right on top of his forehead. He manipulates wind to point where he can suck the air out of a humans body and kill them by collapsing their lungs. When he uses his magic his eyes turn white. He is the serious one who doesn't talk a lot but for some reason is really protective of Lucy (Like every other spirit) He wears a dark grey loose shirt and black pants and two cuffs like bracelets on his wrist.

 **Glacies** is a male spirit who is mostly passive aggressive. Serious and quiet at times but can be really hotheaded too. He is an ice spirit and had impeccable control over the element and stands at 6'3. His eyes are blue in colour, and he had grey hair, in a way opposite to Aeolus who is his brother. He is rather cold towards Lucy in the beginning, mostly afraid that she might get hurt like his previous holders but later he just loves her enough to die for her over and over again. Like Alpheus, he is shirtless and wears leather tight black pants. He doesn't really like jewellery and his ancient mark is on the side of his neck.

 **Dekla** is a female spirit with the power to manipulate time. She can stop time for five minutes in the human world, go back in time or in the future but can't take any human with her so she acts as an information collector. There are limits to what she can share so she has to be careful with what she says. She was the only spirit who knew Lucy was going to be their holder. She is also a very strong fighter since her magic doesn't really help her on the battlefield.

She is 5'6 feet tall, has pure back hair and honeycomb coloured eyes. She is easy to get along with and has a rather intimidating presence. Her ancient mark is on her heart and she wears a simple chain necklace.

* * *

 **Weapon Keys** _Like the silver keys, the Weapon keys are in the same colour but their shape represents the weapon in hand. More like, when a Celestial mage pushed their magic through the key, they enlargen rather than transfer in their hand from the celestial world._

 _Lucy by far has three Weapon Key. A Sword, A Double Mace and a Two-End-Spear. During her time in the spirit world, Lucy worked a lot on hand to hand combat and since she was already so good at using her whip, she did love the idea of being able to master these weapons. Since Sagittarius taught her how to use the Bow and Arrow and Taurus taught her how to use the Axe she has become quite confident after that._

 ** _Additional Silver Keys._**

 ** _The Hunting Dogs: Canum and Venat._** _A cross between a Doberman Pincher and Great Dane. Canum has dark brown fur and Venat is pure black. They are taller than normal dogs their size, have glowing red eyes. Both have a single silver chain around their neck and a single tag with their names on them._

 _They are really good trackers and guard dogs. They have an extra sensitive nose when it comes to their master and when they have to find them._

 ** _Corvus:_** _A rare silver key, Corvus is the ultimate spy. He is a shapeshifter who turns into black mist and travels through shadows, detects magic auras around him. He can travel away from his master for a distance of 50 miles/ 80 km. He is rather short, at the height of 5'5, wears black clothing and a black face mask up to his lips and nose so only his eyes are visible. Lucy got his key from a dark mage who used him to spy on young women and children. He is a rather quiet spirit given the nature of his magic, really enjoys tomatoes and shiny objects._

* * *

 ** _More about her power as_ _Siderum Custos._**

 _In ancient times, when there was no such thing as adulterated magic, the purest of magic came from heaven itself. The magic that granted immortality, that protected and preserved. But as the human race became more corrupt, their greed for power and money grew their humanity towards others declined. Especially spirits._

 _Celestial Magic has been there since forever. After millennials of abuse, the spirits stated hiding the depth of magic from their users. Once a celestial mage would have been able to use spells strong enough to kill a dragon but because of the negativity of emotions it got weaker and weaker_

 _When Lucy first came along, even as a child she was observed by the celestial realm being so young and summoning a spirit that strains magic reserve of grown adults._ _Gradually she grew and so did her magic and her kindness. But the turning point in her fate was when she was trying to save Leo. It had just not been her resolve to save the dying spirit but the magic she had released had been something far from what a Celestial mage at this point of millennial should have._

 _Lucy had proven over and over again that she was willing to do anything for her spirits, to Protect them, fight along with them even die for them. A large part of her was pure love for them, and the rest was the willingness to do right by them._

 _Once her training was over, Lucy was gifted the magic by the spirit king she had felt it course through the veins and she had simply never felt anything like that. Her entire body felt hot, tingles of magic running over her skin, making her gasp for air. It felt like she had opened 6 origins at the same time but without any pain._

 _According to the Spirit King, The new magic gave her the ability to summon the Palladium keys, use spells like Urano Metria,_

 ** _Celestial Piller:_** _It is a powerful spell where the caster traps the enemy into a light pillar that renders him powerless and sucks the magic out of them leaving them paralysed. The light is so powerful that it destroys evil, malicious, dark magic out of the way. When Lucy used it, She concentrates the magic where she wants it and her eyes glow golden as the light itself._

 _She can use the magic to purify dark spirits, is almost immune to dark magic and_ _she can manipulate_ _energy or light like that is her magic and perform spells like regulus punch without lending Leo's powers._

 _Now that Lucy is so strong, automatically her spirits have gained a power boost up and therefore her Zodiac, Silver and Palladium keys are so strong._

* * *

 ** _A little bit about her past I want to add in the chapter._**

 _Lucy started studying advanced subjects like Business and maths at the early age of 5. By the time she was 11, she knew everything about how to manage an estate, business meeting and contracts. She is a gifted child when it comes to brain and learning ability because how quickly she grasps things and has quite a photogenic memory._

 _By the time she was 13 she became quite good at diplomatic art and by the time Lucy left the home she was more than familiar with the laws because she is such an avid reader. Her classes as a child many revolved around Languages, Business, Accounts, Law of the land, and equity classes. She had to learn how to do everything a high society girl does and till date that reflects in her posture. She stands straight, shoulders back and sometimes has to remind herself to relax._

 _She has grown up with elite society and even if she has no contact with them now a few still consider her as a good friend. Those happen to be either businessman, daughters of dukes of other countries, current war queens or foreign diplomats Lucy meet during the business functions._

 _(** **Personal Opinion** ** I kind of hate how she has been sexualised so much? I don't mean fanfics because come on..._

 _But it irks me that she has been shown as a person with big tits and sometimes so weak. Showing off her cleavage all the time etc etc. Not that I mind but I kind of feel that the charm comes when you are classy too..._

 _anyways_

 _**)_

 _When Lucy was in the celestial realm, she read a lot of books and journals on ancient magic so she has a lot better understanding about its origin. She has a good collection of rare books herself that people would kill for._

 _She is very skilled in handling guild matters and very good with children. In the beginning, she was considered just the brain and now she is considered both._

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 ** _Please read this. I know its not an update but it's an important part of the story. Also, I will be slowly updating and correcting the story and adding a few things. I did update the first chapter so do tell me how it was._**


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